Compositions and methods for representational selection of nucleic acids from complex mixtures using hybridization

ABSTRACT

The invention provides a method of selecting a representational sample of nucleic acid sequences from a complex mixture. The method includes: (a) contacting a complex mixture of nucleic acids under conditions sufficient for hybridization with a population of capture probes complementary to one or more nucleic acids comprising a predetermined portion of the sequence collectively present in the complex mixture to form hybridization complexes of the one or more nucleic acids with the population of probes, the population of capture probes being attached to a solid support, and (b) removing unhybridized nucleic acids to select a representational sample of nucleic acids having a complexity of less than 10% but more than 0.001% of the complex mixture, wherein the representational sample comprises a nucleic acid copy having a proportion of each sequence in the copy relative to all other sequences in the copy substantially the same as the proportions of the sequences in the predetermined portion of one or more nucleic acids within the complex mixture. A method of selecting a representational sample of genomic sequences from a complete genome also is provided. The invention further provides a nucleic acid population that includes a representational sample having a complexity of less than 10% but more than 0.001% of a complex mixture, the representational sample comprising a nucleic acid copy having a proportion of each sequence in the copy relative to all other sequences in the copy substantially the same as the proportions of sequences in a predetermined portion of a sequence collectively present in one or more nucleic acids within the complex mixture.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to methods for high throughputisolation and analysis of nucleic acids and, more specifically togenomic sequence analysis useful in personalized medical analysis.

The diagnosis and treatment of human diseases continues to be a majorarea of social concern. The importance of improving health care is selfevident; so long as there continues to be diseases that affectindividuals, there will be an effort to understand the cause of suchdiseases as well as efforts to diagnose and treat such diseases.Preservation of life is an inherent force motivating the vast amount oftime and expenditure continually invested into scientific discovery anddevelopment processes. The application of results from these scientificprocesses to the medical field has led to surprising advancements indiagnosis and treatment over the last century, and especially over thelast quarter century. Such advancements have improved both the qualityof life and life span of affected individuals.

However significant in both scientific and medical contribution to theirrespective fields, the progression of advancements have been slow andpainstaking, generally resulting from step wise trial and errorhypothesis driven research. Moreover, with each advancement there can becumulative progression in the overall scientific understanding of aproblem, but there are few guarantees that the threshold needed totranslate a discovery into a practical medical application has beenachieved. Additionally, with the achievement of all too manyadvancements comes the sobering realization that the perceived finalanswer for a complete understanding of a particular physiological orbiochemical process is, instead, just a beginning to a more complexprocess still needed to be dissected and understood.

Further complicating the progression of scientific advancements and itspractical application can result from technical limitations in availablemethodology. Each discovery or advancement can push the frontiers ofscience to new extremes. Many times, continued progress can be stalleddue to the unavailability or insufficiency in technologicalsophistication needed to continue studies or implement practicalapplications at the new extremes. Therefore, further advancements in thescientific discovery and medical fields necessarily have to awaitprogress in other fields for the advent and development of more capabletechnologies and materials. As a result, the progression of scientificadvancements having practical diagnostic and therapeutic applicationscan occur relatively slowly because it results from the accumulation ofmany smaller discoveries, contributions and advancements intechnologies.

Genomic technology has been one such scientific advancement purported toopen new avenues into the discovery and development processes andachieve new dimensions in the medical diagnostic and therapeutic fields.Genomic research has resulted in the sequencing of numerous wholegenomes, including human. Futuristic speculation of genomic technologyfor medical applications has been directed to revolutionary diagnosticapplications because of the precise physical characteristics purportedlyavailable from complete genome sequences.

However, except for certain nucleic acid detection procedures amenableto selected targets, application of the vast amount of genomicinformation and technology to medical diagnosis and treatment is stillin its infancy. One drawback hindering the application of genomics topractical medicine is due to the inability to select relevant sequencesamong a vast amount of non-informative sequences for analysis. Ineffect, the wheat cannot be sufficiently separated from the chaff priorto analysis, which leads to bias in the results.

For example, one problem with many nucleic acid selection methods is theloss of an accurate sequence representation in the selected populationcompared to the authentic genomic population. Selection methods amenableto medical applications generally amplify specific regions of thenucleic acids using a variety of methods including, for example, PCR,rolling circle, TMA, NASBA and the like. However, batch amplificationneeded for high throughput genomic applications results in significantdistortion of the resulting sequence representation compared to theoriginal mixture.

An alternative method for selecting nucleic acids from complex genomicmixtures employs destruction of the unwanted nucleic acid. These methodsoften rely on chemistries of specific bases or sequences and havelimited applicability to large scale and/or high throughput analysisbecause of their inability to target any region of the genome.Therefore, while spectacular in its potential ramifications, the abilityto accurately sort through, select and identify relevant genomicsequences among other genomic sequences in complex genomic DNA mixturehas failed to allow application of this technology to achieve itspotential.

Thus, there exists a need for a nucleic acid selection method applicableto complex mixtures such as genomic DNA that provides an accuraterepresentation of sequences within the original mixture. The presentinvention satisfies this need and provides related advantages as well.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention provides a method of selecting a representational sampleof nucleic acid sequences from a complex mixture. The method includes:(a) contacting a complex mixture of nucleic acids under conditionssufficient for hybridization with a population of capture probescomplementary to one or more nucleic acids comprising a predeterminedportion of the sequence collectively present in the complex mixture toform hybridization complexes of the one or more nucleic acids with thepopulation of probes, the population of capture probes being attached toa solid support, and (b) removing unhybridized nucleic acids to select arepresentational sample of nucleic acids having a complexity of lessthan 10% but more than 0.001% of the complex mixture, wherein therepresentational sample comprises a nucleic acid copy having aproportion of each sequence in the copy relative to all other sequencesin the copy substantially the same as the proportions of the sequencesin the predetermined portion of one or more nucleic acids within thecomplex mixture. A method of selecting a representational sample ofgenomic sequences from a complete genome also is provided. The inventionfurther provides a nucleic acid population that includes arepresentational sample having a complexity of less than 10% but morethan 0.001% of a complex mixture, the representational sample comprisinga nucleic acid copy having a proportion of each sequence in the copyrelative to all other sequences in the copy substantially the same asthe proportions of sequences in a predetermined portion of a sequencecollectively present in one or more nucleic acids within the complexmixture.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

This invention is directed to representational selection of nucleicacids from a complex mixture. The nucleic acids include DNA, such asgenomic DNA (gDNA) or cDNA, or RNA, such as messenger RNA (mRNA).Representational selection can be used to obtain a sample havingcomplexity substantially equivalent to the nucleic mixture or to obtaina subsample having desired lower level of complexity. Selection ofsubsamples allows for the separation of informative sequences from theless informative sequences that contribute to distortion and/or bias insubsequent analysis. The subsample can be any desired representation ofsequences within a complex mixture. One particularly useful subsampleconsists of an accurate representation of unique sequences within agenome or within a portion of a genome. Such a sample represents agenomic blueprint of the sequence composition devoid of distortions orvariance due to sequence copy number. Such a single copy genomicblueprint is particularly useful in diagnostic and other medicalapplications because it reduces the required sequence coverage necessaryfor subsequent analysis by eliminating sequence redundancy.

In one embodiment, the method of the invention selects a subsample ofnucleic acids from a complex genomic mixture representing all uniquesequences of a genome. Such a subsample will correspond to the DNAcomplexity of the target genome. In other embodiments, the method of theinvention selects representational samples of nucleic acid sequencesfrom a complex mixture corresponding to a desired fraction of thenucleic acids within the mixture to reduce sequence variance andsubsequent coverage in downstream assays. The desired fraction can be,for example, an arbitrary percentage or a percentage based on known orestimated characteristics of the target genomic region. In certainembodiments, the desired fraction of sequences for a representationalsample can be, for example, <0.01%, 0.01% 0.1%, 1%, 5%, 20% and thelike.

In other embodiments, one particularly useful characteristic ofrepresentational selection is that by reducing the variance incurred inthe sequence selection method, one may reduce the fold coveragenecessary to sequence a specific region, and consequently reduce thecost of the sequencing. Reduction of variance due to complex sequencecharacteristics of large populations incurred in the selection methodalso allows more accurate quantification of particular nucleic acidswithin the population. The lower the variance incurred in a sequenceselection method the more accurate the quantification of constituentsequences. This characteristic is particularly useful when looking atrare events such as a rare mutation or a low copy number gene.

Accordingly, in further specific embodiments, a representational sampleselected from a complex mixture is used in subsequent downstreamanalysis for delivery of more accurate and less biased results. Oneanalysis method applicable with a representational sample of theinvention is sequence determination including, for example, targetedresequencing of genomic regions, specific genes, exons geneticallyconserved regions, methylated regions, or other areas of interest. Othersubsequent analysis methods applicable with a representational sample ofthe invention include, for example, determination of tumor or pathogeniccell number or percentage in a mixed cell population by accuratelyquantifying mutations indicative of cancer or other pathogenesis.Another subsequent analysis method applicable for use with arepresentational sample of the invention includes digital geneexpression, where expression of a targeted set of genes is desired. Inthis specific embodiment, expressed RNA is converted into cDNA andspecific transcripts selected from the complex mixture consisting of thetotal cDNA pool.

In one specific embodiment of the method of the invention, pools ofmicrospheres are attached to polynucleotide capture probes. The captureprobes are designed to specifically hybridize to target regions ofnucleic acids in a complex mixture. Target regions are captured and thenon-captured sequences removed by washing. Captured sequences are elutedand available for use in subsequent downstream analysis. One alternativeemploys a single capture probe sequence or species attached to eachmicrosphere. Another alternative employs the attachment of differentcapture probe species or chimeric species to each microsphere. Otherspecific embodiments employ solid supports other than microspheres forcapture probe attachment including, for example, planar surfaces such asarrays or microspheres positioned within an array.

As used herein, the term “complex mixture” when used in reference tonucleic acids of the invention is intended to refer to a plurality ofdifferent nucleic acids or nucleic acid sequences composed of manyvaried and separable parts or constituents. Therefore, the term as it isused herein refers to a plurality of nucleic acids having relativediversity in its constituent sequences. Diversity can be relative tosequences of other nucleic acid molecules within the plurality, relativeto sequences of portions of nucleic acids within the plurality orrelative to a referenced standard. A complex mixture includespluralities having high, medium or low sequence complexity, sequencecopy number or both. Separable parts or constituents of a complexmixture of the invention refers to components of the whole that areanalyzable or decipherable apart from the referenced plurality. Suchconstituents include, for example, genomic structures, gene structuralorganization, genes, gene segments, intervening sequences between genes,coding regions, open reading frames, exons, introns, untranslatedregions, regulatory regions, promoter regions and the like. Exemplarycomplex nucleic acid mixtures include, but are not limited to, a genome,a chromosome or a collection of chromosomes making up a genome orportion of a genome.

Particular forms of nucleic acids comprising a complex mixture of theinvention include all types of nucleic acids found in an organism. Inparticular, a complex mixture of nucleic acids of the invention caninclude, for example, genomic DNA (gDNA), populations of genomic nucleicacids and/or populations of nucleic acids corresponding to genes, suchas gene structural regions or expressed sequences, such as expressedsequence tags (ESTs), DNA copied messenger RNA (cDNA), RNA copiedmessenger RNA (cRNA), mitochondrial DNA or genome, RNA, messenger RNA(mRNA) and/or other populations of RNA. Nucleotide sequence informationfor any of the above exemplary forms of nucleic acids can be obtainedfrom, for example, sequence databases, publications or directly from rawsequence data.

The methods set forth herein are useful for analysis of large genomessuch as those typically found in eukaryotic unicellular andmulticellular organisms. Exemplary eukaryotic nucleic acid mixtures thatcan be used in a method set forth herein includes, without limitation,that from a mammal such as a rodent, mouse, rat, rabbit, guinea pig,ungulate, horse, sheep, pig, goat, cow, cat, dog, primate, human ornon-human primate; a plant such as Arabidopsis thaliana, corn, sorghum,oat, wheat, rice, canola, or soybean; an algae such as Chlamydomonasreinhardtii; a nematode such as Caenorhabditis elegans; an insect suchas Drosophila melanogaster, mosquito, fruit fly, honey bee or spider; afish such as zebrafish; a reptile; an amphibian such as a frog orXenopus laevis; a dictyostelium discoideum; a fungi such as pneumocystiscarinii, Takifugu rubripes, yeast, Saccharamoyces cerevisiae orSchizosaccharomyces pombe; or a plasmodium falciparum. The methods canalso be used with nucleic acid mixtures from organisms having smallergenomes such as those from a prokaryote such as a bacterium, Escherichiacolistaphylococci or mycoplasma pneumoniae; an archae; a virus such asHepatitis C virus or human immunodeficiency virus; or a viroid.

A nucleic acid mixture can be isolated from one or more cells, bodilyfluids or tissues. Known methods can be used to obtain a bodily fluidsuch as blood, sweat, tears, lymph, urine, saliva, semen, cerebrospinalfluid, feces or amniotic fluid. Similarly known biopsy methods can beused to obtain cells or tissues such as buccal swab, mouthwash, surgicalremoval, biopsy aspiration or the like. Nucleic acids can also beobtained from one or more cell or tissue in primary culture, in apropagated cell line, a fixed archival sample, forensic sample, freshfrozen paraffin embedded sample or archeological sample.

Exemplary cell types from which nucleic acids can be obtained include,without limitation, a blood cell such as a B lymphocyte, T lymphocyte,leukocyte, erythrocyte, macrophage, or neutrophil; a muscle cell such asa skeletal cell, smooth muscle cell or cardiac muscle cell; germ cellsuch as a sperm or egg; epithelial cell; connective tissue cell such asan adipocyte, fibroblast or osteoblast; neuron; astrocyte; stromal cell;kidney cell; pancreatic cell; liver cell; or keratinocyte. A cell fromwhich gDNA is obtained can be at a particular developmental levelincluding, for example, a hematopoietic stem cell or a cell that arisesfrom a hematopoietic stem cell such as a red blood cell, B lymphocyte, Tlymphocyte, natural killer cell, neutrophil, basophil, eosinophil,monocyte, macrophage, or platelet. Other cells include a bone marrowstromal cell (mesenchymal stem cell) or a cell that develops therefromsuch as a bone cell (osteocyte), cartilage cells (chondrocyte), fat cell(adipocyte), or other kinds of connective tissue cells such as one foundin tendons; neural stem cell or a cell it gives rise to including, forexample, a nerve cells (neuron), astrocyte or oligodendrocyte;epithelial stem cell or a cell that arises from an epithelial stem cellsuch as an absorptive cell, goblet cell, Paneth cell, or enteroendocrinecell; skin stem cell; epidermal stem cell; or follicular stem cell.Generally any type of stem cell can be used including, withoutlimitation, an embryonic stem cell, adult stem cell, or pluripotent stemcell.

As most naturally occurring nucleic acids derive from genomic nucleicacid, a reference to a specific type of nucleic acid sequence isintended to refer to a subcategory of a genomic nucleic acid sequence.Similarly, and unless specifically referred to otherwise, the use of thegeneral term “nucleic acid” without reference to genomic or asubcategory thereof of genetic information is intended to include bothnaturally occurring and non-naturally occurring nucleic acids ornucleotide sequences. For example, genomic sequences can contain geneticstructural regions, such as a gene, including exons, introns, promoters,5′ untranslated regions (UTRs), 3′ UTRs or other substructures thereof,intragenic region sequence, centromeric region sequence, or telomericregion sequence, as well as other chromosomal regions well known tothose skilled in the art.

A genomic DNA used in the invention can have one or more chromosomes.For example, a prokaryotic genomic DNA including one chromosome can beused. Alternatively, a eukaryotic genomic DNA including a plurality ofchromosomes can be used in a method disclosed herein. Thus, the methodscan be used, for example, to select, amplify or analyze a genomic DNAhaving n equal to 2 or more, 4 or more, 6 or more, 8 or more, 10 ormore, 15 or more, 20 or more, 23 or more, 25 or more, 30 or more, or 35or more chromosomes, where n is the haploid chromosome number and thediploid chromosome count is 2n. The size of a genomic DNA used in amethod of the invention can also be measured according to the number ofbase pairs or nucleotide length of the chromosome complement. Exemplarysize estimates for some of the genomes that are useful in the inventionare about 3.1 Gbp (human), 2.7 Gbp (mouse), 2.8 Gbp (rat), 1.7 Gbp(zebrafish), 165 Mbp (fruitfly), 13.5 Mbp (S. cerevisiae), 390 Mbp(fugu), 278 Mbp (mosquito) or 103 Mbp (C. elegans). Those skilled in theart will recognize that genomes having sizes other than thoseexemplified above including, for example, smaller or larger genomes, canbe used.

While the invention is exemplified by reference to nucleic acids forpurposes of illustration, given the teachings and guidance providedherein, those skilled in the art will understand that the methods andcompositions of the invention are equally applicable to complex mixturesof biopolymers other than nucleic acids. In particular, those skilled inthe art can routinely employ the compositions and methods of theinvention to select representational samples of sequences or biopolymerspecies from complex mixtures of, for example, polypeptides,polysaccharides and/or lipids.

Also for ease of illustration the methods are typically exemplifiedherein for nucleic acid mixtures obtained from a single cell type. Itwill be understood that nucleic acid mixtures can be obtained from amixed cell sample having two or more different cell types. The differentcell types can be from a single multicellular organism including, forexample, a tissue having cells that are differently affected by canceror some other disease or condition. Similarly, a mixed cell sample canbe obtained from a biopsy sample having cells from a host as well as oneor more parasite or an ecological sample having multiple differentorganisms from a particular environment. Accordingly, quantitativeanalyses such as those set forth in further detail below can be used todetermine the quantity and types of cells present in a mixture of cells.

As used herein, the term “representational,” when used in reference to asample of nucleic acids selected from a complex mixture of nucleicacids, is intended to mean a nucleic acid sample in which the proportionof each sequence in the sample relative to all other sequences in thesample is substantially the same as the proportions in the nucleic acidsin the complex mixture. In particular embodiments, the sample isobtained by copying or amplification such that the proportion of eachsequence in the copy relative to all other sequences in the copy issubstantially the same as the proportions in the nucleic acids in thecomplex mixture. A nucleic acid copy can be a single molecule orplurality of molecules such as fragments that are smaller than thenucleic acids of the complex mixture. Accordingly, the proportion ofdifferent fragments in the population will be substantially the same asthe proportion of their sequences in the reference complex mixture.Substantial similarity between the proportion of sequences in arepresentational nucleic acid copy or sample and one or more nucleicacids of a complex mixture means that at least 90% of the loci in thecopy are no more than 2-fold over-represented or under-representedcompared to the template. Other percentages and ranges of representationalso are included in the meaning of the term as exemplified furtherbelow. For example, the sample can have high complexity or lowcomplexity as set forth in further detail below. The amount of foldover-representation or under-representation can differ depending uponthe type of analysis desired. A lower value, such as no more than5-fold, 4-fold, 3-fold or 2-fold over-representation orunder-representation favors more quantitative methods such as sequencingapplication where fold coverage is relatively low. However, a largerrange can be acceptable for other analysis methods such as sequencingusing higher fold coverage. Exemplary values include, but are notnecessarily bounded by, no more than 10-fold, 15-fold, 20-fold, 25-foldor 50-fold over-representation or under-representation.

A representational sample of a nucleic acid can have a complexity thatincludes all or part of the sequence present in a complex mixture or ina predetermined portion of nucleic acids within a complex mixture. Thepart of the sequence of the complex mixture or predetermined portion ofnucleic acids within a complex mixture that is included in arepresentational copy can be a single contiguous portion of the templatesuch as an arm of a chromosome. Alternatively, the part of the sequenceof the complex mixture or predetermined portion of nucleic acids withina complex mixture that is included in a representational copy can beseveral portions of the mixture or portion of nucleic acids such as aplurality of exons or genes of a genome. Accordingly, the portions neednot be contiguous in comparison with the sequence of the complex mixtureor predetermined portion of nucleic acids within a complex mixture. Forexample, a representational copy of a genome can include a plurality ofexon sequences and exclude intron sequences and other interveningsequences, or a representational copy can include a plurality of genesequences while excluding intervening sequences that occur between thegenes in the genome sequence. Therefore, a representational sample ofthe invention can include, for example, a copy that substantiallyapproximates sequence copy number, sequence complexity or both numberand sequence complexity of the reference complex mixture or portionthereof.

The term “high complexity copy” refers to a nucleic acid copy having atleast about 50% of the unique sequence of its cognate, original complexmixture or predetermined portion of nucleic acids within its cognate,original complex mixture. Thus, a high complexity representation of acomplex mixture or predetermined portion of nucleic acids can include,without limitation, at least about 60%, 70%, 75%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 95% or99% of the sequence of the authentic complex mixture or predeterminedportion of nucleic acids of the authentic complex mixture. The term “lowcomplexity copy” refers to a nucleic acid copy having at most about 49%of the unique sequence of its cognate, original complex mixture orpredetermined portion of nucleic acids within its cognate, originalcomplex mixture. Thus, a low complexity representation of a complexmixture or predetermined portion of nucleic acids can include, withoutlimitation, at most about 49%, 40%, 30%, 20%, 10%, 5%, 1%, 0.5%, 0.1%,0.05%, 0.01%, 0.005%, 0.001% or less of the sequence of the authenticcomplex mixture or predetermined portion of nucleic acids of theauthentic complex mixture. In particular embodiments, a nucleic acidcopy can have a complexity representing at least about 0.1%, 1%, 5%,10%, 20%, 30%, or 40% of the sequence of the authentic complex mixtureor predetermined portion of nucleic acids of the authentic complexmixture. In other embodiments, a nucleic acid copy can have a complexitywithin a range of the above exemplary levels. For example, a nucleicacid copy can have a complexity less than 10% but more than 0.001%, orbetween 0.001% and 1%. Other complexities levels and/or ranges areincluded within the meaning of these terms as illustrated by the abovecomplexity level and ranges and as exemplified further below.

The term “veritable” when used in reference to a representationalpopulation of nucleic acids or nucleic acid sequences refers to apopulation of nucleic acids or sequences having at least onecharacteristic substantially similar or proportional to a characteristicof the nucleic acids or nucleic acid sequences within the referencedpopulation or complex mixture. A characteristic includes, for example,nucleotide sequence similarity, population complexity, sequencecomplexity, copy number or combinations thereof. Characteristics thatare proportional include, for example, ratios of gene frequency or copynumber or percent coverage of a nucleic acid region. Therefore, the termas it is used herein refers to a population of nucleic acids orsequences having a sequence characteristic not unlike the constituentsof the nucleic acids or sequences of the referenced population. Averitable population includes, for example, a substantially similarrepresentation or a true copy or replica of the nucleic acids orsequences constituting the authentic complex mixture. The term“veritable” also refers to a representation of a subset of nucleic acidsor sequences within a referenced population such as a complex mixture.Such a subset of includes, for example, unique sequences within thecomplex mixture and/or the frequency of occurrence of unique sequencesor both the unique sequence representation and the frequency ofoccurrence of unique sequences within a referenced population such as acomplex mixture.

As used herein, the term “capture probe” is intended to mean apolynucleotide having sufficient complementarity to specificallyhybridize to a target nucleic acid. A capture probe functions as anaffinity binding molecule for isolation of a target nucleic acid fromother nucleic acids and/or components in a mixture. Capture probes ofthe invention are attached, or can be modified to attach, to a solidsupport. Capture probes can be of any desired length and/or sequence solong as they exhibit sufficient complementarity to specificallyhybridize to a target nucleic acid for capture and isolation from othercomponents in a mixture. A target nucleic acid specifically bound by acapture probe can be a nucleic acid within a complex mixture. A targetnucleic acid also can be specifically bound by a capture probe throughintervening molecules such as linkers, adapters and other bridgingnucleic acids having sufficient complementarity to specificallyhybridize to both a target sequence and a capture probe. In the formerexample, a capture probe directly hybridizes to the target nucleic acid.In the latter example, a capture probe indirectly hybridizes, through asecondary hybridization reaction, to the target nucleic acid. Methodsand probe components for a variety of nucleic acid capture and isolationformats are well known to those skilled in the art.

A capture probe or other nucleic acid used in a method of the inventioncan have any of a variety of compositions or sizes, so long as it hasthe ability to hybridize to a template nucleic acid with sequencespecificity. Accordingly, a nucleic acid having a native structure or ananalog thereof can be used. A nucleic acid with a native structuregenerally has a backbone containing phosphodiester bonds and can be, forexample, deoxyribonucleic acid or ribonucleic acid. An analog structurecan have an alternate backbone including, without limitation,phosphoramide, phosphorothioate, phosphorodithioate,O-methylphophoroamidite linkages, and peptide nucleic acid backbonesand. Other analog structures include those with positive backbones (see,for example, Dempcy et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 92:6097 (1995);non-ionic backbones (see, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,386,023,5,637,684, 5,602,240, 5,216,141 and 4,469,863; Kiedrowshi et al., Angew.Chem. Intl. Ed. English 30:423 (1991); Letsinger et al., J. Am. Chem.Soc. 110:4470 (1988); Letsinger et al., Nucleoside & Nucleotide 13:1597(1994); Chapters 2 and 3 ASC Symposium Series 580, “CarbohydrateModifications in Antisense Research”, Ed. Y. S. Sanghui and P. Dan Cook;Mesmaeker et al., Bioorganic & Medicinal Chem. Lett. 4:395 (1994); Jeffset al., J. Biomolecular NMR 34:17 (1994) and non-ribose backbones,including, for example, those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,235,033 and5,034,506 and Chapters 6 and 7 ASC Symposium Series 580“CarbohydrateModifications in Antisense Research”, Ed. Y. S. Sanghui and P. Dan Cook.Analog structures containing one or more carbocyclic sugars are alsouseful in the methods and are described, for example, in Jenkins et al.,Chem. Soc. Rev. (1995) pp 169-176.Several other analog structures thatare useful in the invention are described in Rawls, C & E News Jun. 2,1997 page 35. Each of the above references is incorporated herein byreference.

Native DNA used in the invention typically has one or more basesselected from the group consisting of adenine, thymine, cytosine, methylcytosine or guanine and RNA can have one or more bases selected from thegroup consisting of uracil, adenine, cytosine or guanine. Exemplarynon-native bases that can be included in a nucleic acid, whether havinga native backbone or analog structure, include, without limitation,inosine, xathanine, hypoxathanine, isocytosine, isoguanine,5-methylcytosine, 5-hydroxymethyl cytosine, 2-aminoadenine, 6-methyladenine, 6-methyl guanine, 2-propyl guanine, 2-propyl adenine,2-thioLiracil, 2-thiothymine, 2-thiocytosine, 15-halouracil,15-halocytosine, 5-propynyl uracil, 5-propynyl cytosine, 6-azo uracil,6-azo cytosine, 6-azo thymine, 5-uracil, 4-thiouracil, 8-halo adenine orguanine, 8-amino adenine or guanine, 8-thiol adenine or guanine,8-thioalkyl adenine or guanine, 8-hydroxyl adenine or guanine, 5-halosubstituted uracil or cytosine, 7-methylguanine, 7-methyladenine,8-azaguanine, 8-azaadenine, 7-deazaguanine, 7-deazaadenine,3-deazaguanine, 3-deazaadenine or the like. A particular embodiment canutilize isocytosine and isoguanine in a nucleic acid in order to reducenon-specific hybridization, as generally described in U.S. Pat. No.5,681,702. Examples of these and other nucleic acids including analogs,and examples of their use in hybridization methods are described, forexample, in US 2005/0181394 which is incorporated herein by reference.

Following the teachings and guidance provided herein, those skilled inthe art will understand that different capture probes will havedifferent primary nucleotide sequences and will exhibit differenthybridization specificities. Accordingly, a capture probe specific for afirst nucleic acid will have a different primary sequence compared to acapture probe specific for a second nucleic acid. Similarly, the terms“first,” “second,” “third” and any such following numbers refer todifferent nucleic acids having different nucleotide sequences.

As used herein, the term “population” is intended to mean two or moredifferent nucleic acids having different nucleotide sequences.Therefore, a population constitutes a plurality of two or more differentmembers. Populations can range in size from small, medium, large, tovery large. The size of small populations can range, for example, from afew members to tens of members. Medium populations can range, forexample, from tens of members to about 100 members or hundreds ofmembers. Large populations can range, for example, from about hundredsof members to about 1000 members, to thousands of members and up to tensof thousands of members. Very large populations can range, for example,from tens of thousands of members to about hundreds of thousands, amillion, millions, tens of millions and up to or greater than hundredsof millions members. Therefore, a population can range in size from twoto well over one hundred million members as well as all sizes, asmeasured by the number of members, in between and greater than the aboveexemplary ranges. A specific example of a large population is aplurality of capture probes of about 5×10⁵, which corresponds to thenumber of genes contained in the human genome. A further specificexample of a population of capture probes of the invention is aplurality of probes corresponding to the DNA complexity of the humangenome. Accordingly, the definition of the term is intended to includeall integer values greater than two. An upper limit of a population ofthe invention can be set, for example, by the theoretical diversity ofnucleotide sequences in a complex mixture of the invention.

As used herein, the term “predetermined” is intended to mean that thereferenced nucleic acid, nucleic acid portion, nucleic acid region ornucleotide sequence is known or characterized. Therefore, a populationof capture probes having nucleic acid sequences for a predeterminednucleic acid refers to probes that have been prior selected to becomplementary to the predetermined sequence or sequences.

As used herein, the term “solid support” is intended to mean a substrateand includes any material that can serve as a solid or semi-solidfoundation for attachment of capture probes, other nucleic acids and/orother polymers, including biopolymers. A solid support of the inventionis modified, for example, or can be modified to accommodate attachmentof nucleic acids by a variety of methods well known to those skilled inthe art. Exemplary types of materials comprising solid supports includeglass, modified glass, functionalized glass, inorganic glasses,microspheres, including inert and/or magnetic particles, plastics,polysaccharides, nylon, nitrocellulose, ceramics, resins, silica,silica-based materials, carbon, metals, an optical fiber or opticalfiber bundles, a variety of polymers other than those exemplified aboveand multiwell microtier plates. Specific types of exemplary plasticsinclude acrylics, polystyrene, copolymers of styrene and othermaterials, polypropylene, polyethylene, polybutylene, polyurethanes andTeflon™. Specific types of exemplary silica-based materials includesilicon and various forms of modified silicon.

The term “microsphere,” “bead” or “particle” refers to a small discreteparticle as a solid support of the invention. Populations ofmicrospheres can be used for attachment of populations of captureprobes. The composition of a microsphere can vary, depending forexample, on the format, chemistry and/or method of attachment and/or onthe method of nucleic acid synthesis. Exemplary microsphere compositionsinclude solid supports, and chemical functionalities imparted thereto,used in polypeptide, polynucleotide and/or organic moiety synthesis.Such compositions include, for example, plastics, ceramics, glass,polystyrene, methylstyrene, acrylic polymers, paramagnetic materials,thoria sol, carbon graphite, titanium dioxide, latex or cross-linkeddextrans such as Sepharose, cellulose, nylon, cross-linked micelles andTeflon™, as well as any other materials which can be found described in,for example, “Microsphere Detection Guide” from Bangs Laboratories,Fishers Ind.

Similar to a microsphere composition, the geometry of a microsphere alsocan correspond to a wide variety of different forms and shapes. Forexample, microspheres used as solid supports of the invention can bespherical, cylindrical or any other geometrical shape and/or irregularlyshaped particles. In addition, microspheres can be, for example, porous,thus increasing the surface area of the microsphere available forcapture probe or other nucleic acid attachment. Exemplary sizes formicrospheres used as solid supports in the methods and compositions ofthe invention can range from nanometers to millimeters or from about 10nm-1 mm. Particularly useful sizes include microspheres from about 0.2μm to about 200 μm and from about 0.5 μm to about 5 μm beingparticularly useful.

In particular embodiments, microspheres or beads can be arrayed orotherwise spatially distinguished. Exemplary bead-based arrays that canbe used in the invention include, without limitation, those in whichbeads are associated with a solid support such as those described inU.S. Pat. No. 6,355,431 B1 US 2002/0102578 and PCT Publication No. WO00/63437. Beads can be located at discrete locations, such as wells, ona solid-phase support, whereby each location accommodates a single bead.Alternatively, discrete locations where beads reside can each include aplurality of beads as described, for example, in U.S. patent applicationNos. US 2004/0263923 US 2004/0233485US 2004/0132205 or US 2004/0125424.Beads can be associated with discrete locations via covalent bonds orother non-covalent interactions such as gravity, magnetism, ionicforces, van der Waals forces, hydrophobicity or hydrophilicity. However,the sites of an array of the invention need not be discrete sites. Forexample, it is possible to use a uniform surface of adhesive or chemicalfunctionalities that allows the attachment of particles at any position.Thus, the surface of an array substrate can be modified to allowattachment or association of microspheres at individual sites, whetheror not those sites are contiguous or non-contiguous with other sites.Thus, the surface of a substrate can be modified to form discrete sitessuch that only a single bead is associated with the site or,alternatively, the surface can be modified such that a plurality ofbeads populates each site.

Beads or other particles can be loaded onto array supports using methodsknown in the art such as those described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No.6,355,431. In some embodiments, for example when chemical attachment isdone, particles can be attached to a support in a non-random or orderedprocess. For example, using photoactivatible attachment linkers orphotoactivatible adhesives or masks, selected sites on an array supportcan be sequentially activated for attachment, such that definedpopulations of particles are laid down at defined positions when exposedto the activated array substrate. Alternatively, particles can berandomly deposited on a substrate. In embodiments where the placement ofprobes is random, a coding or decoding system can be used to localizeand/or identify the probes at each location in the array. This can bedone in any of a variety of ways, for example, as described in U.S. Pat.No. 6,355,431 or WO 03/002979. A further encoding system that is usefulin the invention is the use of diffraction gratings as described, forexample, in US Pat. App. Nos. US 2004/0263923 US 2004/0233485 US2004/0132205or US 2004/0125424.

An array of beads useful in the invention can also be in a fluid formatsuch as a fluid stream of a flow cytometer or similar device. Exemplaryformats that can be used in the invention to distinguish beads in afluid sample using microfluidic devices are described, for example, inU.S. Pat. No. 6,524,793. Commercially available fluid formats fordistinguishing beads include, for example, those used in XMAP™technologies from Luminex or MPSS™ methods from Lynx Therapeutics.

Any of a variety of arrays known in the art can be used in the presentinvention. For example, arrays that are useful in the invention can benon-bead-based. A particularly useful array is an Affymetrix™ GeneChip™array. GeneChip™ arrays can be synthesized in accordance with techniquessometimes referred to as VLSIPS™ (Very Large Scale Immobilized PolymerSynthesis) technologies. Some aspects of VLSIPS™ and other microarrayand polymer (including protein) array manufacturing methods andtechniques have been described in U.S. patent Ser. No. 09/536,841International Publication No. WO 00/58516 ; U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,143,854,5,242,974, 5,252,743, 5,324,633, 5,445,934, 5,744,305, 5,384,261,5,405,783, 5,424,186, 5,451,683, 5,482,867, 5,491,074, 5,527,681,5,550,215, 5,571,639, 5,578,832, 5,593,839, 5,599,695, 5,624,711,5,631,734, 5,795,716, 5,831,070, 5,837,832, 5,856,101, 5,858,659,5,936,324, 5,968,740, 5,974,164, 5,981,185, 5,981,956, 6,025,601,6,033,860, 6,040,193, 6,090,555, 6,136,269, 6,269,846, 6,022,963,6,083,697, 6,291,183, 6,309,831 and 6,428,752; and in PCT ApplicationsNos. PCT/US99/00730 (International Publication No. WO 99/36760) andPCT/US01/04285 each of which is incorporated herein by reference. Sucharrays can hold over 500,000 probe locations, or features, within a mere1.28 square centimeters. The resulting probes are typically 25nucleotides in length. As set forth below in further detail below, ahighly efficient synthesis in which substantially all of the probes arefull length benefits several embodiments of the invention.

A spotted array can also be used in a method of the invention. Anexemplary spotted array is a CodeLink™ Array available from AmershamBiosciences CodeLink™ Activated Slides are coated with a long-chain,hydrophilic polymer containing amine-reactive groups. This polymer iscovalently crosslinked to itself and to the surface of the slide. Probeattachment can be accomplished through covalent interaction between theamine-modified 5′ end of the oligonucleotide probe and the aminereactive groups present in the polymer. Probes can be attached atdiscrete locations using spotting pens. Such pens can be used to createfeatures having a spot diameter of, for example, about 140-160 microns.In a preferred embodiment, nucleic acid probes at each spotted featurecan be 30 nucleotides long.

Another array that is useful in the invention is one manufactured usinginkjet printing methods such as SurePrint™ Technology available fromAgilent Technologies. Such methods can be used to synthesizeoligonucleotide probes in situ or to attach presynthesized probes havingmoieties that are reactive with a substrate surface. A printedmicroarray can contain 22,575 features on a surface having standardslide dimensions (about 1 inch by 3 inches). Typically, the printedprobes are 25or 60nucleotides in length.

It will be understood that the specific synthetic methods and probelengths described above for different commercially available arrays aremerely exemplary. Similar arrays can be made using modifications of themethods and probes having other lengths such as those set forthelsewhere herein can also be placed at each feature of the array.

Those skilled in the art will know or understand that the compositionand geometry of a solid support of the invention can vary depending onthe intended use and preferences of the user. Therefore, althoughmicrospheres and chips are exemplified herein for illustration, giventhe teachings and guidance provided herein, those skilled in the artwill understand that a wide variety of other solid supports exemplifiedherein or well known in the art also can be used in the methods and/orcompositions of the invention.

Capture probes, for example, can be attached to a solid support of theinvention using any of a variety of methods well known in the art. Suchmethods include for example, attachment by direct chemical synthesisonto the solid support, chemical attachment, photochemical attachment,thermal attachment, enzymatic attachment and/or absorption. These andother methods are will known in the art and applicable for attachment ofcapture probes in any of a variety of formats and configurations. Theresulting probes can be attached to a solid support via a covalentlinkage or via non covalent interactions. Exemplary non-covalentinteractions are those between a ligand-receptor pair such asstreptavidin (or analogs thereof) and biotin (or analogs thereof) orbetween an antibody and epitope. Once attached to the first solidsupport, the target sequence, probe or primers are amenable for use inthe methods and compositions as described herein.

The invention provides a method of selecting a representational sampleof nucleic acid sequences from a complex mixture. The method includes:(a) contacting a complex mixture of nucleic acids under conditionssufficient for hybridization with a population of capture probescomplementary to one or more nucleic acids comprising a predeterminedportion of the sequence collectively present in said complex mixture toform hybridization complexes of said one or more nucleic acids with saidpopulation of probes, said population of capture probes being attachedto a solid support, and (b) removing unhybridized nucleic acids toselect a representational sample of nucleic acids having a complexity ofless than 10% but more than 0.001% of said complex mixture, wherein saidrepresentational sample comprises a nucleic acid copy having aproportion of each sequence in the copy relative to all other sequencesin the copy substantially the same as the proportions of the sequencesin said predetermined portion of one or more nucleic acids within saidcomplex mixture.

The methods of the invention allow for the unbiased selection orisolation of a desired set of nucleic acids from a complex mixture ofnucleic acids. Complex mixtures of nucleic acids include, for example,populations that are substantial in size and/or sequence diversity.Particular examples of complex mixtures include, for example, nucleicacids comprising whole genomes, portions of a genome, a chromosome, aportion of a chromosome or one or more particular genomic regions.Particularly useful complex mixtures applicable for selecting arepresentation sample include, for example, the human genome. Otheruseful complex mixtures include populations of nucleic acids thatinclude genes, coding regions, exons, introns, mRNA and/or cDNA.

With respect to sequence diversity or sequence complexity, a complexmixture includes a wide range of unique sequence populations. Generally,a complex mixture includes populations having as few as 10³ uniquesequences and as many as 10⁹ or more. With respect to genomicapplications, a complex mixture can range from the number of uniquesequences within a small genomic portion up to and including the entiregenome. Specific examples of the diversity of a complex mixture that canbe employed in the methods of the invention include, for example, 10³,10⁴, 10⁵, 10⁶, 10⁷, 10⁸ or 10⁹ or more. Such populations can be derivedfrom nucleic acids comprising genomes, including human, bacterial andyeast; genomic libraries; cDNA libraries, combinatorial or randomlibraries and the like.

With respect to the number of sequences, complex mixture size orsequence copy number within a complex mixture, a complex mixtureapplicable to the methods of the invention also can include a wide rangeof population sizes. Generally, a complex mixture can includepopulations having as few as 10³ total sequences and as many as 10¹³ ormore. With respect to genomic applications, a complex mixture can rangefrom the number of total sequences within a small genomic portion up toand including the total number of sequences within the entire genome.Specific examples of the population size of a complex mixture that canbe employed in the methods of the invention include, for example, 10³,10⁴, 10⁵, 10⁶, 10⁷, 10⁸, 10⁹, 10¹⁰, 10¹¹, 10¹² or 10¹³ or more totalsequences.

Selection of a desired set or representational sample of nucleic acidssequences from a complex mixture allows for the isolation of asubpopulation of nucleic acids which minimizes the sequence biasinherent in other methods of selection. Accordingly, using the methodsof the invention a set of nucleic acids can be selected that represent adesired and/or predetermined fraction or complexity of nucleic acidssequences from a complex mixture. For example, the selected sample canrepresent all, many or some sequences within the complex mixture.Similarly, the selected sample can represent all, many or some uniquesequences within the complex mixture. The selected sample also can begenerated to represent other nucleic acid sequences within the complexmixture deemed to be informative or useful. For example, therepresentational sample selected can include, for example, simply areduction in amount or percentage of sequence information compared tothe complex mixture in order to reduce the amount of sequence coveragefor a particular region or portion of the complex mixture. Such aselected representational sample can therefore have a complexity ofabout 0.001, 0.01, 0.1, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0, 6.0, 7.0, 8.0, 9.0, 10,15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, 60, 65, 70, 75, 80, 85, 90, 95 or100% compared to the authentic complex mixture or a predeterminedportion thereof. Bias and/or distortion of the selected sequencepopulation can be minimized by, for example, minimizing the variance insequence redundancy, amount or both sequence redundancy and amount.

Representational samples include, for example, subpopulations of theoriginal complex mixture representing a fractional percent and having asubstantially similar proportion of sequences compared to the originalcomplex mixture. Fractional percentages are exemplified above inreference to complexity of the authentic complex mixture and can furtherinclude, for example, less than about 10%, 1%, 0.1%, 0.01%, 0.001% orless of the complex mixture. The proportional similarity with respect tonucleic acid sequence representation, copy number or both sequencerepresentation and copy number of the representational sample can be,for example, within about 2-, 3-, 4-, 5-, 6-, 7-, 8-, 9-, 10-fold orless compared to the original complex mixture.

Similarly, when compared by statistical analysis indicating, forexample, variance or deviation from the original complex mixture, theproportional similarity with respect to nucleic acid sequencerepresentation, copy number or both of the representational sample canbe, for example, within about 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10or lessstandard deviations of the mean compared to the original complexmixture. Given the teachings and guidance provided herein, those skilledin the art will understand that samples other than those exemplifiedabove can have more or less similarity in sequence representationcompared to the complex mixture. Such other samples also can be selectedusing the methods of the invention and still accurately representsequence or size characteristics of the authentic mixture.

The methods of the invention select for a representational sample froman original complex mixture by hybridization and capture usingpolynucleotides specific to one or more nucleic acids having apredetermined portion of the sequence within the complex mixture.Briefly, capture probes are contacted with the complex mixture underconditions sufficient for hybridization and the hybridization complexesare separated from unhybridized nucleic acid by washing, for example.The greater the specificity of a capture probe for its complementarysequence within a complex mixture the more accurate the selectedrepresentational will be compared to the authentic population.

A variety of hybridization or washing conditions can be used in theselection methods of the invention. Hybridization or washing conditionsare well known in the art and can be found described in, for example,Sambrook et al., Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual, Third Ed., ColdSpring Harbor Laboratory, New York (2001) and in Ansubel et al., CurrentProtocols in Molecular Biology, John Wiley and Sons, Baltimore, Md.(1999). Stringency of the hybridization or washing conditions includevariations in temperature or buffer composition and can be variedaccording to the specificity of the reaction needed. A range ofstringency includes, for example, high, moderate or low stringencyconditions.

Stringent conditions include sequence-dependent specificity and willdiffer according to length and content of target and probe nucleicacids. Longer sequences hybridize more specifically at highertemperatures. Generally, stringent conditions are selected to be about5-10° C. lower than the thermal melting point (T_(m)) for the specificsequence at a defined ionic strength and pH. The T_(m) is thetemperature, under defined ionic strength, pH and nucleic acidconcentration, at which 50% of the probes complementary to the targethybridize to the target sequence at equilibrium. Differences in thenumber of hydrogen bonds as a function of base pairing between perfectmatches and mismatches can be exploited as a result of their differentT_(m)s. Accordingly, a hybrid comprising perfect complementarity willmelt at a higher temperature than one comprising at least one mismatch,all other parameters being equal.

Stringent hybridization conditions also include those in which the saltconcentration is less than about 1.0 M sodium ion, generally about 0.01to 1.0 M sodium ion concentration or other salts at pH 7.0 to 8.3 andthe temperature is at least about 30° C. for short probes such as 10 to50 nucleotides and at least about 60° C. for long probes such as greaterthan 50 nucleotides. Low stringency conditions include NaClconcentrations of about 1.0 M. Furthermore, low stringency conditionscan include MgCl₂ concentrations of about 10 mM, moderate stringency ofabout 1-10 mM, and high stringency conditions include concentrations ofabout 1 mM. Stringent conditions also can be achieved with the additionof helix destabilizing agents such as formamide. For example, lowstringency conditions include formamide concentrations of about 0 to10%, while high stringency conditions utilize formamide concentrationsof about 40%. For a further description of hybridization conditions andits relationship to stringency see, for example, Tijssen, Techniques inBiochemistry and Molecular Biology—Hybridization with Nucleic AcidProbes, Overview of principles of hybridization and the strategy ofnucleic acid assays. (1993).

A population of capture probes employed in the methods of the inventionwill be selected depending on the desired representational sample to beisolated. As described previously, a representational sample caninclude, for example, sequences of a whole genome, unique sequences of agenome, genes within a genome, coding regions, exons, intergenicregions, expressed genes, mRNA and the like. A representational samplealso can be, for example, a fraction or portion of these nucleic acidcategories and/or a fractional percent of the sequence number ordiversity of the reference complex mixture. Selection of arepresentational sample using the methods of the invention entailsdesigning the capture probes representative of, or complementary to, thepredetermined population of these sequences and using them as affinitybinders to separate the desired sequences from undesired sequenceswithin the complex mixture.

Capture probes to a predetermined portion of nucleic acids within acomplex mixture can be designed using nucleic acid sequence informationavailable from a variety of sources and methods well known in the art.For example, nucleic acid sequences, including genomic sequences, can beobtained from any of a variety of sources well known to those skilled inthe art. Such sources include for example, user derived, public orprivate databases, subscription sources and on-line public or privatesources. For example, exemplary public databases for obtaining genomicand gene sequences include, for example, dbEST-human, UniGene-human,gb-new-EST, Genbank, Gb_pat, Gb_htgs, Refseq, Derwent Geneseq and RawReeds Databases. Access or subscription to these repositories can befound, for example, at the following URL addresses: dbEST-human,gb-new-EST, Genbank, Gb_pat, and Gb_htgs atURL:ftp.ncbi.nih.gov/genbank/; Unigene-human atURL:ftp.ncbi.nih.gov/repository/UniGene/; Refseq atURL:ftp.ncbi.nih.gov/refseq/; Derwent Geneseq atURL:www.derwent.com/geneseq/ and Raw Reads Databases atURL:trace.ensembl.org/. The nucleic acid sequence informationadditionally can be generated by a user and used directly or stored, forexample, in a local database. Various other sources well known to thoseskilled in the art for genomic, gene and other nucleic acid sequenceinformation also exist and can similarly be used for generating apopulation of capture probes having a veritable representation ofsequences for a predetermined portion of the complex mixture.

The population of capture probes are designed to capture a predeterminedportion of the sequence collectively present in one or more nucleicacids within a complex mixture of interest. For example, if therepresentational sample is desired to include all or substantially allsequences in a genome then a population of capture probe sequencesshould include probes specific to all or substantially all sequences.Similarly, if a representational sample is desired to include allsequence copies within, for example, one or more chromosomal regions,than a population of capture probe sequences should include probesspecific to genome fragments that include all or substantially allsequences within the one or more chromosomal regions. Similarly,populations of capture probes sufficient to form hybridization complexesand select representational samples of, for example, genes, codingregions, exons, introns or a specified percent of the complex mixturecan include, for example, capture probes specific to genome fragmentsthat include the predetermined genes, coding regions, exons, introns orhaving a specified percent of sequence information within the complexmixture.

Accordingly, in certain embodiments, the predetermined portion of thesequence within a complex mixture can include, for example, contiguousor non-contiguous sequences containing the above regions or genomicsequences. The predetermined portion of sequences within a complexmixture also can include, for example, various different sizes of genefragments containing portions of the above regions or genomic sequencesor other genomic sequences. The fragment sizes can vary depending on thedesign and selection of the capture probes. For example, a predeterminedportion of sequences within a complex mixture be contained in genomefragments having sizes of, for example, 25 kilobases (kb), 50 kb, 75 kb,100 kb, 125 kb, 150 kb, 175 kb, 200 kb, 225 kb, 250 kb, 0.5 megabases(Mb), 0.75 Mb, 1.0 Mb, 2 Mb, 3 Mb, 4 Mb, 5 Mb, 6 Mb, 7 Mb, 8 Mb, 9 Mb,10 Mb, 20 Mb, 50 Mb, 100 Mb or more. All sizes and range of sizessmaller, larger or in between these exemplary sizes also are included ina predetermined portion that can be targeted for selection of arepresentational sample.

For representational selection using the methods of the invention,capture probes are attached to a solid support. Generally, attachmentoccurs, for example, prior to use in the hybridization reaction.Anchorage to a solid support allows for efficient and reproducibleselection of predetermined sequences from a complex mixture.Quantitation and reproducibility of selection can be augmented by, forexample, standardizing the solid support size, solid support density andcapture probe density before, during and/or after capture probe couplingprocedures. Capture probe attachment can be performed using any of avariety of methods well known in the art including, for example,chemical, photochemical, photolithography, enzymatic and/or affinitybinding.

A wide variety of solid supports or substrates can be employed in themethods of the invention. Exemplary solid supports have been describedpreviously and include, for example, planar structures such as slides,chips, microchips and/or arrays, and particle structures such asmagnetic or non-magnetic microspheres.

Capture probes complementary to nucleic acids containing a predeterminedportion of the sequence collectively present in one or more nucleicacids within a complex mixture are contacted with the complex mixtureunder conditions sufficient for hybridization and allowed to formhybridization complexes. Isolation of hybridization complexes can occurby, for example, washing under stringent conditions or separation of theinsoluble solid supports having attached hybridization complexes fromthe soluble unhybridized nucleic acids by centrifugation orsedimentation, for example. The resulting selected nucleic acidpopulation will contain sequences representational of that predeterminedportion of sequences present in the original complex mixture. Inparticular, the resulting selected representational sample can include anucleic acid copy having a proportion of each sequence in the copyrelative to all other sequences in the copy substantially the same asthe proportions of sequences in the predetermined portion of one or morenucleic acids within the authentic complex mixture.

Given the teachings and guidance provided herein, those skilled in theart will understand that variations in the methods of the invention alsocan be employed to further selection of a representational sample from acomplex mixture. In particular, any method or method component that canreduce the sequence bias of the selection with respect to sequencediversity and/or population size can be used in combination with themethods of the invention to augment the likeness of the representationsample compared to the authentic complex mixture.

For example, in one specific embodiment variance in the efficiency withwhich different sequences are present in a captured sample can bereduced by employing relatively long capture probe polynucleotides. Aparticularly useful length can be, for example, long polynucleotides ofat least about 35 nucleotides (nt), generally at least about 40 nt,particularly at least about 45 nt, and more particularly at least about50 nt or longer. In other specific embodiments, the capture probes areselected to be predominantly full length or selected such thatsubstantially all of the probes are full length, devoid of truncationduring polynucleotide synthesis.

Solid surfaces having predominantly full length polynucleotides can becreated, for example, by synthesis of the polynucleotides followed byattachment of full length species to the solid surfaces. For example, apolynucleotide can be synthesized in the 3′ to 5′ direction to include a5′ modified nucleotide moiety and the synthetic product can besubsequently attached to the solid support via the 5′ modifiednucleotide moiety. Such a method provides the advantage of selecting forthe full length polynucleotide because truncated species that typicallyresult from inefficient coupling at any given cycle of the synthesiswill not include the 5′ modified base and, therefore, will not becapable of attaching to the solid support. It will be understood that,similarly, if a polynucleotide is synthesized in the 5′ to 3′ directionthen attachment to a surface can be carried out via a 3′ modifiednucleotide moiety. Useful methods for synthesizing polynucleotides aredescribed, for example, in U.S. 60/717,376 entitled “Continuous PolymerSynthesizer” which is incorporated herein by reference. Examples ofmodified nucleotide moieties useful for attachment of polynulceotides tosolid supports include amine, biotin and aldehyde an others described,for example, in U.S. 60/717,376 entitled “Continuous PolymerSynthesizer” which is incorporated herein by reference

Another applicable method for synthesizing predominantly full lengthand/or homogeneous polynucleotide populations includes, for example,synthesizing the capture probe polynucleotides on a solid support withsubsequent use of inversion chemistry. In situ inversion of substrateattached nucleic acids can be carried out such that 3′substrate-attached nucleic acids become attach to the substrate at their5′ end and detached at their 3′ end. As described above in regard toseparating synthesis and attachment steps, attachment via the 5′ endselects for full length species and non-full length species produced atany location on a solid support can be washed away. In situ inversioncan be carried out according to methods known in the art such as thosedescribed in Kwiatkowski et al., Nucl. Acids Res. 27:4710-4714 (1999)and those commercially available as Qt™ OPI Technology from Quiatech AB(Uppsala, Sweden).

Attaching capture probe polynucleotides to solid supports beforeexposing it to the complex mixture selects for the full-lengthpolynucleotides. In comparison, if polynucleotides are synthesized witha ligand (such as biotin), hybridized to the complex mixture and thencaptured via the ligand then the representational variance wouldincrease by having any non-full-length polynucleotides compete with thefull-length polynucleotides in the hybridization while only capturingthe full-length polynucleotides for the selection. In other words, anynucleic acids in the complex mixture that bound to non-full lengthpolynucleotides would be precluded from capture, due to absence of theligand and would be washed away rather than being represented in thefinal sample.

In another specific embodiment, reduction in variance in the efficiencywith which different sequences are present in a captured sample can beaccomplished by, for example, equalizing the Tms of the capture probepolynucleotides. Equalizing or adjusting the Tms within a capture probepopulation can be accomplished by, for example, varying the length ofdifferent polynucleotides in the population, by adding non-complementarybases to the internal and/or terminal portions of certainpolynucleotides or by inclusion of bases such as inosine that hybridizeto more than one base on the complementary strand. Other methods forequalizing or normalizing Tms between two or more capture probepolynucleotides within a population also can include, for example,synthesizing or engineering insertions, deletions or base substitutionsor base modifications that alter the degree of sequence complementaritybetween probe and predetermined target nucleic acid.

In a further specific embodiment, reduction in variance in theefficiency with which different sequences are present in a capturedsample can be accomplished by, for example, use of an excess of captureprobe polynucleotides attached to a solid support compared to thepredetermined target nucleic acids. Unless otherwise explicitlyqualified, excess capture probe or an excess amount of capture proberefers to a molar excess for the complementary nucleic acid portionsbetween capture probe and predetermined target nucleic acid. Use ofmolar excesses ensures that the capture probe is not a limiting factorand minimizes introduction of variation during the selection procedure.Excess probe amounts will result in a sample being representational withrespect to sequence copy number, for example, since substantially allcomplementary sequences in a complex mixture will form hybridizationcomplexes. To select for a representational sample indicative of uniquesequences, for example, modulation of the molar amounts of the captureprobe/target ratio can be employed. For example, less than a molarexcess can be employed for capture probes complementary to high copynumber sequences compared to single copy sequences. The molar ratio ofcapture probe to target sequence can be modulated in the methods of theinvention to achieve essentially desired sequence representation in aselected sample.

In a further specific embodiment, reduction in variance in theefficiency with which different sequences are present in a capturedsample can be accomplished by, for example, increasing the efficiency ofthe capture of the targeted nucleic acid portions of the complexmixture. Capture efficiency can be increased by, for example, designingcapture probe polynucleotides to both strands of a complex mixturecomprising DNA. Efficiency can be further augmented by, for example,spacing each capture probe within such a pair of capture probes atvarying distances along the length of sequence collectively present in acomplex mixture of nucleic acid targets, such as the genome sequencecollectively present in a population of genomic DNA fragments.

In a further specific embodiment, reduction in variance in theefficiency with which different sequences are present in a capturedsample can be accomplished by, for example, increasing the captureefficiency of the complex mixture targets. For example, predeterminedportions of nucleic acids within a complex mixture can be reduced to aplurality of smaller sized fragments. Useful fragment sizes furtheringhybridization and capture efficiency include, for example, average sizessmaller than at least about 10 kilobases (kb), 9 kb, 8 kb, 7 kb, 6 kb, 5kb, 4 kb, 3 kb, 2 kb, 1 kb or 0.5 kb or smaller. Particularly usefulsizes for fragmenting complex mixture targets include, for example,average sizes between about 5-0.5 kb, 4.5-0.75 kb, 4.0-1.0 kb, 3.5-1.25kb, 3.0-1.5 kb, 2.5-1.75 kb or about 2.0 kb. Average sizes above, belowand between these exemplary ranges also can be employed in the methodsof the invention.

Spacing capture probes across the sequences present in predeterminedportions of targets within a complex mixture also can be employed toaugment efficiency in capture. Spatial separation is particularly usefulin connection with fragmentation of the nucleic acids into smaller sizesas described above. For example, optimized capture and selection can beaccomplished using average size targets generated from a complex mixtureof about 1 kb and spatial separation of the population of capture probesabout every 1000 nt, 900 nt, 800 nt, 700 nt, 600 nt, 500 nt, 400 nt, 300nt, or 200 nt or combinations thereof.

Methods for fragmenting nucleic acids are well known in the art. All ofsuch methods are equally applicable in the fragmentation of complexmixtures in preparation for representational selection. Exemplarymethods include, for example, enzymatic digestion such as exo- orendonuclease digestion, chemical cleavage, photocleavage and mechanicalforces such as sheering and combinations of these methods.

In a further specific embodiment, reduction in variance in theefficiency with which different sequences are present in a capturedsample can be accomplished by, for example, attaching single captureprobe species to a solid support to generate different populations ofsupports which each contain a unique capture probe polynucleotidesequence. Manufacturing uniform sequence populations of separate captureprobes reduces synthesis variation introduced by differential rates ofpolynucleotide attachment inherent in the synthesis process. Forexample, different nucleotides and/or different polynucleotide speciescompete with each other during the manufacturing process. Such incurredbias can be reduced by separate attachment and subsequent pooling of thevarious species.

Other exemplary methods of reducing the amount of variance in thepopulation of capture probes attached to solid supports include, forexample, the use of similar amounts of starting solid supports,minimizing or eliminating sampling from the in-process reactions and/orcomplete or nearly complete extraction of the solid supports into thefinal population pool. Similar amounts of starting solid supports can bedetermined by, for example, normalizing the weight, volume or count.Another useful method for creating a narrow distribution of captureprobe populations attached to solid supports and/or the total size, massor number of solid supports can include, for example, the use of apatterned substrate that can select the size of solid support particlessuch as microspheres, for example, an exemplary patterned substrate isthe etched substrate used in connection with BeadArray™ technology(Illumina, Inc., San Diego, Calif.). Additionally, the complexity of themicrosphere pool can be varied depending upon the complexity of thepredetermined nucleic acid portion of the complex mixture of interest.

In a further specific embodiment, reduction in variance in theefficiency with which different sequences are present in a capturedsample can be accomplished by, for example, using solid supports such asmicrospheres having different properties which allow further selectionof the complex mixture nucleic acid targets while purposefully avoidingproblematic nucleic acid portions or sequences. For example, somesequences such as repeated sequences are overly represented in gDNA.Because these sequences are present in high concentration relative tonon-repeated sequences, they contribute disproportionally tonon-specific binding during hybridization. Non-specific bindingincreases the variance in a selected sample, thereby compromisingrepresentation of the sample. To reduce or eliminate such repeatedsequences, for example, and make them less available to contribute tonon-specific binding, capture probes for such undesirable sequences canbe designed and employed in a preparatory step to cure the complexmixture of some, many or substantially all of such unwanted sequences.

For example, in this specific embodiment, different solidsupport-attached capture probe populations can be used for a selectionstep compared to those populations used for representational selectionof complex mixture target nucleic acids. The preparatory step to reduceundesirable sequences can be employed, for example, prior to, orsimultaneous with, a selection step for isolation of a desiredrepresentational sample. Solid support properties allowing removal orseparation of undesirable sequences simultaneously with selection of arepresentational sample include, for example, differential size,differential mass, shape or magnetism. For example, paramagneticmicrospheres can be attached to capture probes specific for a complexmixture's target nucleic acids and non-magnetic microspheres used forthe capture probes specific to undesirable sequences. Separation of theparamagnetic microspheres with a magnetic force will result inseparation of the two classes of a complex mixture's nucleic acids.Given the teachings and guidance provided herein, this application alsois equally applicable selection of a complex mixture's target nucleotidesequences in a stepwise fashion as described above, for example.Stepwise selection also can be employed, for example, by using captureprobes with different Tms. For example, by selecting a subpopulationusing capture probes having a first Tm and subsequently selecting afurther subpopulation using capture probes having a second Tm. Otherproperties of the solid support also can be useful in this exemplifiedembodiment.

In a further specific embodiment, reduction in variance in theefficiency with which different sequences are present in a capturedsample can be accomplished by, for example, increasing hybridizationspecificity of the capture probe to reduce non-specific binding throughuse of, for example, stringent hybridization conditions. As exemplifiedpreviously, a wide variety of methods are well known in the art forincreasing the hybridization stringency and, therefore, the specificityof hybridization complex formation. Such methods include, for example,modulating the temperature, ionic salts, non-ionic compounds (e.g.formamide) and/or pH. Additionally, procedures such as cyclic orgradient temperature annealing also can be employed, which isparticularly useful when the complex mixture's target nucleic acid ornucleic acids are present in limiting concentration. Furthermore,stringent washes can additionally be performed to further reducenon-specific binding. Such washes can include, for example,high-temperature wash(es), high salt concentration, high non-ioniccompounds and the like.

In a further specific embodiment, reduction in variance in theefficiency with which different sequences are present in a capturedsample can be accomplished by, for example, separating the captureprobe-containing solid support hybridization complexes from the complexmixture-containing unhybridized nucleic acids. This separation can befacilitated by, for example, gravity, centrifugation or by magnetism (ifparamagnetic solid support are used), followed by liquid or solidsupport removal.

In a further specific embodiment, reduction in variance in theefficiency with which different sequences are present in a capturedsample can be accomplished by, for example, eluting a bound complexmixture or a predetermined nucleic acid portion thereof nearlycompletely from the solid supports. This elution step can beaccomplished by, for example, use of very high stringency conditions,including high temperatures.

In yet a further specific embodiment, reduction in variance in theefficiency with which different sequences are present in a capturedsample can be accomplished by, for example, quantifying the on-chippull-out and using the value to normalize analysis results. Any methodknown in the art for quantifying sequences can be used including, forexample, molecular beacon technology.

Therefore, the invention provides a nucleic acid population comprising arepresentational sample having a specified complexity of a complexmixture. The specified complexity can be, for example, less than 10% butmore than 0.001% of a complex mixture. The representational sampleincludes a nucleic acid copy having a proportion of each sequence in thecopy relative to all other sequences in the copy substantially the sameas the proportions of sequences in a predetermined portion of a sequencecollectively present in one or more nucleic acids within the complexmixture. The representational sample also can be attached to a solidsupport.

The invention also provides a method wherein a representational sampleof the invention selected from a complex mixture of nucleic acids isfurther used in subsequent procedure or analysis. The subsequentanalysis step can be any qualitative, quantitative or analytical methodemployed with nucleic acids known to those skilled in the art.Particularly useful methods include a subsequent step selected from, forexample, amplification, sequencing, targeted resequencing, nucleic aciddetection, copy number analysis, gene expression analysis, genotyping,determination of copy number, determination of loss of heterozygosity,methylation analysis or nucleotide detection. All of such nucleic acidanalysis procedures also are particularly useful in, for example,medical diagnosis and/or prognosis, including personalized medicaldiagnosis and/or prognosis procedures.

Exemplary embodiments of these various subsequent analysis proceduresare set forth below for purposes of illustration. These exemplaryprocedures are well known in the art and are equally applicable for usein conjunction with a representational sample of the invention.Similarly, these and/or other well known procedures also can be combinedin various formats and configurations to achieve essentially any desiredanalysis of a representational sample of the invention. Given theteachings and guidance provided herein, those skilled in the art willunderstand that the representational samples of the invention can beemployed in a variety of different procedures to obtain a sought afterresult. Similarly, a representational sample of the invention also canbe employed in such subsequent analysis procedures in formats orconfigurations that include, for example, solution phase procedures,solid phase procedures and/or array or chip-type formats. All of suchprocedures and formats for nucleic acid detection or analysis are wellknown to those skilled in the art and can be found described in, forexample, WO 2005/003304 A2 and in U.S. Patent Application Publications20050181394, 20050059048, 20050053980, 20050037393, 20040259106,20040259100.

One particularly useful subsequent analysis of a representational sampleof the invention includes, for example, nucleotide sequencecharacterization or sequence analysis. With the ability to select arepresentational sample from a complex mixture such as a genome orportion of a genome, accurate sequencing analysis can be efficientlyperformed. Methods for manual or automated sequencing are well known inthe art and include, but are not limited to, Sanger sequencing,pyrosequencing, sequencing by hybridization, sequencing by ligation andthe like. Sequencing methods can be preformed manually or usingautomated methods. Furthermore, the methods set forth herein can be usedto prepare nucleic acids for sequencing using commercially availablemethods such as automated Sanger sequencing (available from AppliedBiosystems, Foster City Calif.) or pyrosequencing (available from 454Lifesciences, Branford, Conn. and Roche Diagnostics, Basel,Switzerland).

A nucleic acid sample obtained using methods described herein can beamplified prior to sequence analysis. A particularly useful method isemulsion PCR. However, amplification need not be carried out if thesample provides sufficient quantity to suit the particular method beingused. A nucleic acid sample to be sequenced can be attached to a solidphase using methods and substrates described elsewhere herein orotherwise known in the art. The sample will typically be attached as apopulation of separate nucleic acids, such as those encoding genomefragments, that can be distinguished from each other. Microarrays areparticularly useful for sequence analysis.

A population of nucleic acids can be sequenced using methods in which aprimer is hybridized to each nucleic acid such that the nucleic acidsform templates and modification of the primer occurs in a templatedirected fashion. The modification can be detected to determine thesequence of the template. For example, the primers can be modified byextension using a polymerase and extension of the primers can bemonitored under conditions that allow the identity and location ofparticular nucleotides to be determined. For example, extension can bemonitored and sequence of the template nucleic acids determined usingpyrosequencing which is described in further detail below, in US2005/0130173; US 2006/0134633; U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,971,903; 6,258,568 and6,210,891, each of which is incorporated herein by reference and is alsocommercially available, see above. Extension can also be monitoredaccording to addition of labeled nucleotide analogs by a polymerase,using methods described, for example, elsewhere herein and in U.S. Pat.Nos. 4,863,849; 5,302,509; 5,763,594; 5,798,210; 6,001,566; 6,664,079;US 2005/0037398; and U.S. Pat. No. 7,057,026each of which isincorporated herein by reference. Polymerases useful in sequencingmethods are typically polymerase enzymes derived from natural sources.It will be understood that polymerases can be modified to alter theirspecificity for modified nucleotides as described, for example, inWO/01/23411; U.S. Pat. No. 5,939,292; and WO 05/024010, each of which isincorporated herein by reference. Furthermore, polymerases need not bederived from biological systems.

A further modification of primers that can be used to determine thesequence of templates to which they are hybridized is ligation. Suchmethods are referred to as sequencing by ligation and are described, forexample, in Shendure et al. Science 309:1728-1732 (2005); U.S. Pat. Nos.5,599,675; and 5,750,341, each of which is incorporated herein byreference. It will be understood that primers need not be modified inorder to determine the sequence of the template to which they areattached. For example, sequences of template nucleic acids can bedetermined using methods of sequencing by hybridization such as thosedescribed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,090,549; 6,401,267 and 6,620,584.

Another particularly useful subsequent analysis of a representationalsample of the invention includes, for example, targeted resequencing ofnucleic acid samples. This analysis is particularly useful in humangenomics, for example, because it increases the accuracy of the originalsequence determination. The analysis consists of at least a secondsequence determination of a desired read sequence. A representationalsample of the invention can be employed in connection with thisprocedure because a nucleic acid portion targeted for resequencing canbe efficiently selected from a complex mixture using the methods of theinvention.

Similarly, a representational sample of the invention also can beemployed in subsequent analyses that include gene and/or sequence copynumber analysis for a variety of applications in human genomic medicine.Because representational samples of the invention can be generated torepresent a true replica of a complex mixture these selected nucleicacid populations of the invention can be efficiently used forquantitation of gene copy number. Any of the various nucleic aciddetection formats exemplified further below or well known in the art canbe used for quantifying the amount of a gene or other sequence inrepresentational sample. The amount or copy number determined to bepresent in a representational sample will be indicative of the amount orcopy number of the assayed sequence or sequences in the authenticcomplex mixture.

A further subsequent analysis that a representational sample of theinvention can be usefully employed with includes, for example, geneexpression analysis. In particular, methods for on-array labeling ofprobe nucleic acids using primer extension methods can be used in thedetection of RNA or cDNA for such expressed sequence determinations.Probe-cDNA hybrids can be detected by polymerase-based primer extensionmethods as exemplified herein and known in the art. Alternatively, forarray-hybridized mRNA, reverse-transcriptase-based primer extension canbe employed. There are several particularly useful attributes ofon-array labeling for gene expression analysis. Labeling costs can bedramatically decreased since the amounts of labeled nucleotides employedare substantially less compared to methods for labeling capturedtargets. Secondly, cross-hybridization can be reduced since a targetmust both hybridize and also contain perfect complementarity at its 3′terminus for label incorporation in a primer extension reaction.Similarly, OLA or primer extension and ligation methods as describedfurther below can be used for detection of hybridized cDNA or mRNA. Thelatter two methods typically employ the addition of an exogenous nucleicacid for each sequence queried. However, such methods can be useful inapplications where the use of primer extension leads to unacceptablelevels of ectopic extension.

The above described on-array labeling with primer extension also can beused to monitor alternate splice sites of nucleic acids within aselected representational sample by, for example, designing the 3′ probeterminus to coincide with a splice junction of a target cDNA or mRNA.The terminus can be placed to uniquely identify all the relevantpossible acceptor splice sites for a particular gene. For example, thefirst 45 bases can be chosen to lie entirely within the donor exon, andthe last 5 3′-bases can lie in a set of possible splice acceptor exonsthat become spliced adjacent to the first 45 bases. The above exemplarygene expression analysis methods can be found describe in, for example,WO 2005/003304 A2and in U.S. Patent Application Publications20050181394, 20050059048, 20050053980, 20050037393, 20040259106,20040259100. Given the teachings and guidance provided herein, these andother expression analysis methods can be beneficially employed in theanalysis of gene expression indicative of a pathological condition usinga representational sample of the invention.

Still further useful subsequent analyses of a representational samplecan include a wide variety of nucleic acid detection, includingnucleotide detection methods. As with the above exemplary applicationsof a representational sample of the invention, measurements of geneticmarkers, mutations and the like using an accurate replica of a complexmixture such as a genome yields more accurate and reproducible resultsand, therefore, more precise disease correlations and diagnosticdeterminations.

Any of the subsequent analyses exemplified herein can be used incombination with any other analyses or with another method well known inthe art. Such subsequent analyses, or combinations thereof, also can beperformed with or without nucleic acid amplification methods. Exemplarynucleic acid detection, nucleotide detection and amplificationprocedures are described further below.

In a particular nucleic acid detection embodiment, arrayed nucleic acidprobes can be modified while hybridized to a representational sample fordetection. Such embodiments, include, for example, those utilizing ASPE(Allele Specific Primer Extension), SBE (Single Base Extension),oligonucleotide ligation amplification (OLA), extension ligation,invader technology, probe cleavage or pyrosequencing as described inU.S. Pat. No. 6,355,431 B1, U.S. Ser. No. 10/177,727 and/or below. Thus,subsequent analyses steps of the invention can be carried out in a modewherein an immobilized probe is modified instead of a representationalsample nucleic acid captured by a probe. Alternatively, detection caninclude modification of the representational sample nucleic acids whilehybridized to probes. Exemplary modifications include those that arecatalyzed by an enzyme such as a polymerase.

Extension assays are useful for nucleic acid and/or nucleotidedetection. Extension assays are generally carried out by modifying the3′ end of a first nucleic acid when hybridized to a second nucleic acid.The second nucleic acid can act as a template directing the type ofmodification, for example, by base pairing interactions that occurduring polymerase-based extension of the first nucleic acid toincorporate one or more nucleotide. Polymerase extension assays areparticularly useful, for example, due to the relative high-fidelity ofpolymerases and their relative ease of implementation. Extension assayscan be carried out to modify nucleic acid probes that have free 3′ ends,for example, when bound to a substrate such as an array. Exemplaryapproaches that can be used include, for example, allele-specific primerextension (ASPE), single base extension (SBE), or pyrosequencing.

In particular embodiments, single base extension (SBE) can be used fornucleic acid or nucleotide detection. Briefly, SBE utilizes an extensionprobe that hybridizes to a target representational sample nucleic acidat a location that is proximal or adjacent to a detection position, thedetection position being indicative of a particular sequence. Apolymerase can be used to extend the 3′ end of the probe with anucleotide analog labeled with a detection label. Based on the fidelityof the enzyme, a nucleotide is only incorporated into the extensionprobe if it is complementary to the detection position in the targetrepresentational sample nucleic acid. If desired, the nucleotide can bederivatized such that no further extensions can occur, and thus only asingle nucleotide is added. The presence of the labeled nucleotide inthe extended probe can be detected for example, at a particular locationin an array and the added nucleotide identified to determine theidentity of the analyte sequence. SBE can be carried out under knownconditions such as those described in U.S. patent application Ser. No.09/425,633. A labeled nucleotide can be detected using methods such asthose set forth above or described elsewhere such as Syvanen et al.,Genomics 8:684-692 (1990); Syvanen et al., Human Mutation 3:172-179(1994); U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,846,710 and 5,888,819; Pastinen et al.,Genomics Res. 7(6):606-614 (1997).

As will be appreciated by those in the art, the configuration of an SBEreaction can take on any of several forms. In particular embodiments,the reaction can be done in solution, and then the newly synthesizedstrands, with the base-specific detectable labels, can be detected. Forexample, they can be directly hybridized to capture probes that arecomplementary to the extension primers, and the presence of the labelcan then be detected. Such a configuration is useful, for example, whenrepresentational sample nucleic acids are arrayed as capture probes.Alternatively, the SBE reaction can occur on a surface. For example, arepresentational sample nucleic acid can be captured using a firstcapture probe that hybridizes to a first target domain of the fragment,and the reaction can proceed such that the probe is modified asdescribed above.

Single base sequencing (SBS) is an extension assay that can be carriedout as set forth above for SBE with the exception that one or morenon-chain terminating nucleotides are included in the extensionreaction. Thus, in accordance with the invention, one or more non-chainterminating nucleotides can be included in an SBE reaction including,for example, those exemplified above.

ASPE is an extension assay that utilizes extension probes that differ innucleotide composition at their 3′ end. Briefly, ASPE can be carried outby hybridizing a target representational sample nucleic acid to anextension probe having a 3′ sequence portion that is complementary to adetection position and a 5′ portion that is complementary to a sequencethat is adjacent to the detection position. Template directedmodification of the 3′ portion of the probe, for example, by addition ofa labeled nucleotide by a polymerase yields a labeled extension product,but only if the template includes the target sequence. The presence ofsuch a labeled primer-extension product can then be detected, forexample, based on its location in an array to indicate the presence of aparticular analyte sequence.

In particular embodiments, ASPE can be carried out with multipleextension probes that have similar 5′ ends such that they annealadjacent to the same detection position in a target representationalsample nucleic acid but different 3′ ends, such that only probes havinga 3′ end that complements the detection position are modified by apolymerase. For example, a probe having a 3′ terminal base that iscomplementary to a particular detection position is referred to as aperfect match (PM) probe for the position, whereas probes that have a 3′terminal mismatch base and are not capable of being extended in an ASPEreaction are mismatch (MM) probes for the position. The presence of thelabeled nucleotide in the PM probe can be detected and the 3′ sequenceof the probe determined to identify a particular analyte sequence. AnASPE reaction can include 1, 2or 3 different MM probes, for example, atdiscrete array locations, the number being chosen depending upon thediversity occurring at the particular locus being assayed. For example,two probes can be used to determine which of 2 alleles for a particularlocus are present in a sample, whereas three different probes can beused to distinguish the alleles of a 3-allele locus. In particularembodiments, an ASPE reaction can include a nucleotide analog that isderivatized to be chain terminating. Thus, a PM probe in aprobe-fragment hybrid can be modified to incorporate a single nucleotideanalog without further extension.

Pyrosequencing is an extension assay that can be used to add one or morenucleotides to a detection position(s); it is similar to SBE except thatidentification of an analyte sequence is based on detection of areaction product, pyrophosphate (PPi), produced during the addition of adNTP to an extended probe, rather than on a label attached to thenucleotide. One molecule of PPi is produced per dNTP added to theextension primer. That is, by running sequential reactions with each ofthe nucleotides, and monitoring the reaction products, the identity ofthe added base is determined. Pyrosequencing can be used in theinvention using conditions such as those described in US 2002/0001801.

In particular embodiments, modification of immobilizedprobe-representational sample nucleic acid hybrids can include cleavageor degradation of hybrids having one or more mismatched base pair. Aswith other modifications set forth herein, conditions can be employedthat result in selective modification of hybrids having one or moremismatch compared to perfectly matched hybrids. Exemplary agents includeenzymes that recognize and cleave hybrids having mismatched base pairssuch as a DNA glycosylase, Cel I, T4 endonuclease V1I, T7 endonucleaseI, mung bean endonuclease or Mut-y or others such as those described inBradley et al., Nucl. Acids Res. 32:2632-2641 (2004). Cleavage productsproduced from mismatched hybrids can be removed, for example, bywashing. Accordingly, a subsequent analysis method of the invention caninclude modifying immobilized probe-representational sample nucleic acidhybrids using ASPE along with cleavage of mismatch hybrids. In anotherparticular embodiment, an ASPE reaction can be carried out underconditions in which extension of perfect match probe-representationalsample nucleic acid hybrids is driven to completion and substantialamounts of mismatch probe-fragment hybrids are also extended.

If desired, an immobilized probe that is not part of a probe-fragmenthybrid can be selectively modified compared to a probe-representationalsample nucleic acid hybrid. Selective modification of non-hybridizedprobes can be used to increase assay specificity and sensitivity, forexample, by removing probes that are labeled in a template independentmanner during the course of a polymerase extension assay. A particularlyuseful selective modification is degradation or cleavage of singlestranded probes that are present in a population or array of probesfollowing contact with target fragments under hybridization conditions.Exemplary enzymes that degrade single stranded nucleic acids include,without limitation, Exonuclease 1 or lambda Exonuclease.

In embodiments utilizing probes with reactive hydroxyls at their 3′ endsand polymerase extension, a useful exonuclease is one thatpreferentially digests single stranded DNA in the 3′ to 5′ detection.Thus, double stranded probe-target hybrids that form under particularassay conditions are preferentially protected from degradation as is the3′ overhang of the target that serves as a template for polymeraseextension of the probe. However, single stranded probes not hybridizedto target under the assay conditions are preferentially degraded.Furthermore, such exonuclease treatment can preferentially degradesingle stranded regions of representational sample nucleic acids orother nucleic acids in cases where the fragments or nucleic acids areretained by an array due to interaction with non-probe interactingportions of target nucleic acids. Thus, exonuclease treatment canprevent artifacts that may arise due to a bridged network of 2 or morenucleic acids bound to a probe. Digestion with exonuclease is typicallycarried out after a probe extension step.

In some embodiments, detection of analyte sequences from arepresentational sample can include amplification of representationalsample nucleic acid targets following formation of proberepresentationalsample nucleic acid hybrids, resulting in a significant increase in thenumber of target molecules. Target amplification-based detectiontechniques can include, for example, the polymerase chain reaction(PCR), strand displacement amplification (SDA), or nucleic acid sequencebased amplification (NASBA). A particularly useful amplification methodis emulsion PCR. Emulsion PCR methods are known in the art and, briefly,involve, emulsifying a population of nucleic acids with amplificationreagents in a water-oil mixture under conditions in which, on average,individual nucleic acids are captured in separate compartments. Themethods provide the advantage of capturing and amplifying unique nucleicacids in each compartment. Typically, each nucleic acid is attached to abead in the compartments and the bead can be subsequently manipulated tokeep sequences separated, for example, by attachment to identifiablelocations on an array substrate. Emulsion PCR can be carried out asdescribed, for example, in US 2005/0042648; US 2005/0079510; US2005/0064460; US 2005/0227264; and WO 05/010145each of which isincorporated herein by reference. A representative sample obtained usinga method described herein can be amplified using emulsion PCR and, ifdesired, the amplicons can be sequenced or otherwise analyzed using themethods set forth herein.

Alternatively, rather than amplify the target, alternate techniques canuse the target as a template to replicate a hybridized probe, allowing asmall number of target molecules to result in a large number ofsignaling probes, that then can be detected. Probe amplification-basedstrategies include, for example, the ligase chain reaction (LCR),cycling probe technology (CPT), invasive cleavage techniques such asInvader™ technology, Q-Beta replicase (QβR) technology or sandwichassays. Such techniques can be carried out, for example, underconditions described in U.S. Ser. No. 60/161,148, 09/553,993 and090/556,463; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,355,431 B1 or as set forth below. Thesetechniques are exemplified below, in the context of representationalsample nucleic acids used as target nucleic acids that are hybridized toarrayed nucleic acid probes. It will be understood that in suchembodiments representational sample nucleic acid can be arrayed asprobes and hybridized to synthetic nucleic acid targets.

Detection with oligonucleotide ligation amplification (OLA) involves thetemplate-dependent ligation of two smaller probes into a single longprobe, using a representational sample nucleic acid target sequence asthe template. In a particular embodiment, a single-stranded targetsequence includes a first target domain and a second target domain,which are adjacent and contiguous. A first OLA probe and a second OLAprobe can be hybridized to complementary sequences of the respectivetarget domains. The two OLA probes are then covalently attached to eachother to form a modified probe. In embodiments where the probeshybridize directly adjacent to each other, covalent linkage can occurvia a ligase. In one embodiment one of the ligation probes may beattached to a surface such as an array or a particle. In anotherembodiment both ligation probes may be attached to a surface such as anarray or a particle.

Alternatively, an extension ligation assay can be used whereinhybridized probes are non-contiguous and one or more nucleotides areadded along with one or more agents that join the probes via the addednucleotides. Exemplary agents include, for example, polymerases andligases. If desired, hybrids between modified probes and targets can bedenatured, and the process repeated for amplification leading togeneration of a pool of ligated probes. As above, theseextension-ligation probes can be but need not be attached to a surfacesuch as an array or a particle. Further conditions for extensionligation assay that are useful in the invention are described, forexample, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,355,431 B1 and U.S. application Ser. No.10/177,727.

A modification of OLA is referred to as the ligation chain reaction(LCR) when double-stranded representational sample nucleic acid targetsare used. In LCR, the target sequence can be denatured, and two sets ofprobes added: one set as outlined above for one strand of the target,and a separate set (i.e. third and fourth primer probe nucleic acids)for the other strand of the target. Conditions can be used in which thefirst and second probes hybridize to the target and are modified to forman extended probe. Following denaturation of the target-modified probehybrid, the modified probe can be used as a template, in addition to thesecond target sequence, for the attachment of the third and fourthprobes. Similarly, the ligated third and fourth probes can serve as atemplate for the attachment of the first and second probes, in additionto the first target strand. In this way, an exponential, rather thanjust a linear, amplification can occur when the process of denaturationand ligation is repeated.

The modified OLA probe product can be detected in any of a variety ofways. In a particular embodiment, a template-directed probe modificationreaction can be carried out in solution and the modified probehybridized to a capture probe in an array. A capture probe is generallycomplementary to at least a portion of the modified OLA probe. In anexemplary embodiment, the first OLA probe can include a detectable labeland the second OLA probe can be substantially complementary to thecapture probe. A non-limiting advantage of this embodiment is thatartifacts due to the presence of labeled probes that are not modified inthe assay are minimized because the unmodified probes do not include thecomplementary sequence that is hybridized by the capture probe. An OLAdetection technique can also include a step of removing unmodifiedlabeled probes from a reaction mixture prior to contacting the reactionmixture with a capture probe as described for example in U.S. Pat. No.6,355,431 B1.

Alternatively, a representational sample nucleic acid target can beimmobilized on a solid-phase surface and a reaction to modify hybridizedOLA probes performed on the solid phase surface. Unmodified probes canbe removed by washing under appropriate stringency. The modified probescan then be eluted from the representational sample nucleic acid targetusing denaturing conditions, such as, 0.1 N NaOH, and detected asdescribed herein. Other conditions in which a representational samplenucleic acid can be detected when used as a target sequence in an OLAtechnique include, for example, those described in U.S. Pat. Nos.6,355,431 B1, 5,185,243, 5,679,524 and 5,573,907; EP 0 320 308 B1; EP 0336 731 B1; EP 0 439 182 B1; WO 90/01069; WO 89/12696; WO 97/31256; andWO 89/09835 and U.S. Ser. Nos. 60/078,102 and 60/073,011.

Analyte sequences can be detected in a subsequent analysis method of theinvention using rolling circle amplification (RCA). In a firstembodiment, a single probe can be hybridized to a representationalsample nucleic acid target such that the probe is circularized whilehybridized to the target. Each terminus of the probe hybridizesadjacently on the target nucleic acid and addition of a polymeraseresults in extension of the circular probe. However, since the probe hasno terminus, the polymerase continues to extend the probe repeatedly.This results in amplification of the circular probe. Following RCA theamplified circular probe can be detected. This can be accomplished in avariety of ways; for example, the primer can be labeled or thepolymerase can incorporate labeled nucleotides and labeled productdetected by a capture probe in a detection array. Rolling-circleamplification can be carried out under conditions such as thosegenerally described in Baner et al. (1998) Nuc. Acids Res. 26:5073-5078;Barany, F. (1991) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 88:189-193; and Lizardi etal. (1998) Nat Genet. 19:225-232.

Furthermore, rolling circle probes used in the invention can havestructural features that render them unable to be replicated when notannealed to a target. For example, one or both of the termini thatanneal to the target can have a sequence that forms an intramolecularstem structure, such as a hairpin structure. The stem structure can bemade of a sequence that allows the open circle probe to be circularizedwhen hybridized to a legitimate target sequence but results ininactivation of uncircularized open circle probes. This inactivationreduces or eliminates the ability of the open circle probe to primesynthesis of a modified probe in a detection assay or to serve as atemplate for rolling circle amplification.

Exemplary probes capable of forming intramolecular stem structures andmethods for their use which can be used in the invention are describedin U.S. Pat. No. 6,573,051.

In another embodiment, detection can include OLA followed by RCA. Inthis embodiment, an immobilized primer can be contacted with arepresentational sample nucleic acid target. Complementary sequenceswill hybridize with each other resulting in an immobilized duplex. Asecond primer can also be contacted with the target nucleic acid. Thesecond primer hybridizes to the target nucleic acid adjacent to thefirst primer. An OLA reaction can be carried out to attach the first andsecond primer as a modified primer product, for example, as describedabove. The representational sample nucleic acid can then be removed andthe immobilized modified primer product, hybridized with an RCA probethat is complementary to the modified primer product but not theunmodified immobilized primer. An RCA reaction can then be performed.

In a particular embodiment, a padlock probe can be used both for OLA andas the circular template for RCA. Each terminus of the padlock probe cancontain a sequence complementary to a representational sample nucleicacid target. More specifically, the first end of the padlock probe canbe substantially complementary to a first target domain, and the secondend of the RCA probe can be substantially complementary to a secondtarget domain, adjacent to the first domain. Hybridization of thepadlock probe to the representational sample nucleic acid target resultsin the formation of a hybridization complex. Ligation of the discreteends of a single oligonucleotide results in the formation of a modifiedhybridization complex containing a circular probe that acts as an RCAtemplate complex. Addition of a polymerase to the RCA template complexcan allow formation of an amplified product nucleic acid. Following RCA,the amplified product nucleic acid can be detected, for example, byhybridization to an array either directly or indirectly and anassociated label detected.

A padlock probe used in the invention can further include othercharacteristics such as an adaptor sequence, restriction site forcleaving concatamers, a label sequence or a priming site for priming theRCA reaction as described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,355,431 B1.This same patent also describes padlock probe methods that can be usedto detect analyte sequence of representational sample nucleic acidtargets in a method of the invention.

A variation of LCR that can be used to detect an analyte sequence in asubsequent analysis method of the invention utilizes chemical ligationunder conditions such as those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,616,464 and5,767,259. In this embodiment, similar to enzymatic modification, a pairof probes can be utilized, wherein the first probe is substantiallycomplementary to a first domain of a target representational samplenucleic acid and the second probe is substantially complementary to anadjacent second domain of the target. Each probe can include a portionthat acts as a “side chain” that forms one half of a non-covalent stemstructure between the probes rather than binding the target sequence.Particular embodiments utilize substantially complementary nucleic acidsas the side chains. Thus, upon hybridization of the probes to the targetsequence, the side chains of the probes are brought into spatialproximity. At least one of the side chains can include an activatablecross-linking agent, generally covalently attached to the side chain,that upon activation, results in a chemical cross-link or chemicalligation with the adjacent probe. The activatable group can include anymoiety that will allow cross-linking of the side chains, and includegroups activated chemically, photonically or thermally, such asphotoactivatable groups. In some embodiments a single activatable groupon one of the side chains is enough to result in cross-linking viainteraction to a functional group on the other side chain; in alternateembodiments, activatable groups can be included on each side chain. Oneor both of the probes can be labeled

Once a hybridization complex is formed, and the cross-linking agent hasbeen activated such that the probes have been covalently attached toeach other, the reaction can be subjected to conditions to allow for thedisassociation of the hybridization complex, thus freeing up the targetto serve as a template for the next ligation or cross-linking. In thisway, signal amplification can occur, and the cross-linked products canbe detected, for example, by hybridization to an array either directlyor indirectly and an associated label detected.

In particular embodiments, amplification-based detection can be achievedusing invasive cleavage technology. Using such an approach, arepresentational sample nucleic acid target can be hybridized to twodistinct probes. The two probes are an invader probe, which issubstantially complementary to a first portion of the representationalsample nucleic acid target, and a signal probe, which has a 3′ endsubstantially complementary to a sequence having a detection positionand a 5′ non-complementary end which can form a single-stranded tail.The tail can include a detection sequence and typically also contains atleast one detectable label. However, since a detection sequence in asignal probe can function as a target sequence for a capture probe,sandwich configurations utilizing label probes can be used as describedherein and the signal probe need not include a detectable label.

Hybridization of the invader and signal probes near or adjacent to oneanother on a representational sample nucleic acid target can form any ofseveral structures useful for detection of the probe-fragment hybrid.For example, a forked cleavage structure can form, thereby providing asubstrate for a nuclease which cleaves the detection sequence from thesignal probe. The site of cleavage is controlled by the distance oroverlap between the 3′ end of the invader probe and the downstream forkof the signal probe. Therefore neither oligonucleotide is cleaved whenmisaligned or when unattached to a representational sample nucleic acidtarget.

In particular embodiments, a thermostable nuclease that recognizes theforked cleavage structure and catalyzes release of the tail can be used,thereby allowing thermal cycling of the cleavage reaction and amplified,if desired. Exemplary nucleases that can be used include, withoutlimitation, those derived from Thermus aquaticus, Thermus flavus, orThermus thermophilus; those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,719,028 and5,843,669, or Flap endonucleases (FENs) as described, for example, inU.S. Pat. No. 5,843,669 and Lyamichev et al., Nature Biotechnology17:292-297 (1999).

If desired, the 3′ portion of a cleaved signal probe can be extracted,for example, by binding to a solid-phase capture tag such as bead boundstreptavidin, or by crosslinking through a capture tag to produceaggregates. The 5′ detection sequence of a signal probe, can be detectedusing methods set forth below such as hybridization to a probe on anarray. Invasive cleavage technology can further be used in the inventionusing conditions and detection methods described, for example, in U.S.Pat. Nos. 6,355,431; 5,846,717; 5,614,402; 5,719,028; 5,541,311; or5,843,669.

A further amplification-based detection technique that can be used todetect an analyte sequence is cycling probe technology (CPT). A CPTprobe can include two probe sequences separated by a scissile linkage.The CPT probe is substantially complementary to a representationalsample nucleic acid target sequence and thus will hybridize to it toform a probe-fragment hybrid. The CPT probe can be hybridized to arepresentational sample nucleic acid target in a method of theinvention. Typically the temperature and probe sequence are selectedsuch that the primary probe will bind and shorter cleaved portions ofthe primary probe will dissociate. Depending upon the particularapplication, CPT can be done in solution, or either the target orscissile probe can be attached to a solid support. A probe-fragmenthybrid formed in the methods can be subjected to cleavage conditionswhich cause the scissile linkage to be selectively cleaved, withoutcleaving the target sequence, thereby separating the two probesequences. The two probe sequences can then be disassociated from thetarget. In particular embodiments, excess probe can be used and thereaction allowed to be repeated any number of times such that theeffective amount of cleaved probe is amplified.

Any linkage within a CPT probe that can be selectively cleaved when theprobe is part of a hybridization complex, that is, when adouble-stranded complex is formed can be used as a scissile linkage. Anyof a variety of scissile linkages can be used in the inventionincluding, for example, RNA which can be cleaved when in a DNA:RNAhybrid by various double-stranded nucleases such as ribonucleases. Suchnucleases will selectively nick or excise RNA nucleosides from a RNA:DNAhybridization complex rather than DNA in such a hybrid or singlestranded DNA. Further examples of scissile linkages and cleaving agentsthat can be used in the invention are described in U.S. Pat. No.6,355,431 B1 and references cited therein.

Upon completion of a CPT cleavage reaction, the uncleaved scissileprobes can be removed or neutralized prior to detection of cleavedprobes to avoid false positive signals, if desired. This can be done inany of a variety of ways including, for example, attachment of theprobes to a solid support prior to cleavage such that following the CPTreaction, cleaved probes that have been released into solution can bephysically separated from uncleaved probes remaining on the support.Uncleaved and cleaved probes can also be separated based on differencesin length, capture of a particular binding label or sequence using, forexample, methods described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,355,431.

Cleaved probes produced by a CPT reaction can be detected using methodssuch as hybridization to an array or other methods set forth herein. Forexample, a cleaved probe can be bound to a capture probe, eitherdirectly or indirectly, and an associated label detected.

CPT technology can be carried out under conditions described, forexample, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,011,769; 5,403,711; 5,660,988; and4,876,187, and PCT published applications WO 95/05480; WO 95/1416and WO95/00667and U.S. Ser. No. 09/014,304 .

In particular embodiments, CPT with a probe containing a scissilelinkage can be used to detect mismatches, as is generally described inU.S. Pat. No. 5,660,988and WO 95/14106. In such embodiments, thesequence of the scissile linkage can be placed at a position within alonger sequence that corresponds to a particular sequence to bedetected, i.e. the area of a putative mismatch. In some embodiments ofmismatch detection, the rate of generation of released fragments is suchthat the methods provide, essentially, a yes/no result, whereby thedetection of virtually any released fragment indicates the presence of adesired analyte sequence. Alternatively or additionally, the finalamount of cleaved fragments can be quantified to indicate the presenceor absence of an analyte sequence.

Analyte sequences of probe-representational sample nucleic acid hybridscan also be detected in a method of the invention using a sandwichassay. A sandwich assay is an amplification-based technique in whichmultiple probes, typically labeled, are bound to a singlerepresentational sample nucleic acid target. In an exemplary embodimenta representational sample nucleic acid target can be bound to a solidsubstrate via a complementary capture probe. Typically, a unique captureprobe will be present for each analyte sequence to be detected. In thecase of a bead array, each bead can have one of the unique captureprobes. If desired, capture extender probes can be used, that allow auniversal surface to have a single type of capture probe that can beused to detect multiple target sequences. Capture extender probesinclude a first portion that will hybridize to all or part of thecapture probe, and a second portion that will hybridize to a firstportion of the target sequence to be detected. Accordingly customizedsoluble probes can be generated, which as will be appreciated by thosein the art can simplify and reduce costs in many applications of theinvention. In particular embodiments, two capture extender probes can beused. This can provide, a non-limiting advantage of stabilizing assaycomplexes, for example, when a target sequence to be detected is large,or when large amplifier probes (particularly branched or dendrimeramplifier probes) are used.

Once a representational sample nucleic acid target has been bound to asolid substrate, such as a bead, via a capture probe, an amplifier probecan be hybridized to the fragment to form a probe-representationalsample nucleic acid hybrid. Exemplary amplifier probes that can be usedin a method of the invention and conditions for their use in sandwichassays are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,355,431. Briefly, an amplifierprobe is a nucleic acid having at least one probe sequence, and at leastone amplification sequence. A first probe sequence of an amplifier probecan be used, either directly or indirectly, to hybridize to arepresentational sample nucleic acid target sequence. An amplificationsequence of an amplifier probe can be any of a variety of sequences thatare used, either directly or indirectly, to bind to a first portion of alabel probe. Typically an amplifier probe will include a pluralityamplification sequences. The amplification sequences can be linked toeach other in variety of ways including, for example, covalently linkeddirectly to each other, or to intervening sequences or chemicalmoieties.

Label probes comprising detectable labels can hybridize torepresentational sample nucleic acids thereby forming probe-fragmenthybrids and the labels can be detected to determine the presence ofanalyte sequence. The amplification sequences of the amplifier probe canbe used, either directly or indirectly, to bind to a label probe toallow detection. Detection of the amplification reactions of theinvention, including the direct detection of amplification products andindirect detection utilizing label probes (i.e. sandwich assays), can bedone by detecting assay complexes having labels. Exemplary methods forusing a sandwich assay and associated nucleic acids that can be used inthe present invention are further described in U.S. Ser. No. 60/073,011and in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,355,431; 5,681,702; 5,597,909; 5,545,730;5,594,117; 5,591,584; 5,571,670; 5,580,731; 5,571,670; 5,591,584;5,624,802; 5,635,352; 5,594,118; 5,359,100; 5,124,246 and 5,681,697.

Depending upon a particular application of the methods of the invention,the detection techniques set forth above can be used to detectrepresentational sample nucleic acid targets or to detect targets in anamplified population of the representational sample.

The invention further provides a kit for selecting a representationalsample of nucleic acid sequences from a complex mixture. The kitincludes: (a) a population of capture probes complementary to apredetermined portion of the sequence collectively present in one ormore nucleic acids within the complex mixture, the population of captureprobes being attached to a solid support, and (b) one or more ancillaryreagents.

Any of the components or articles used in performing the methods of theinvention can be usefully packaged into a kit. For example, the kits canbe packed to include some, many or all of the components or articlesused in performing the methods of the invention. Exemplary componentsinclude, for example, capture probes, capture probes attached to a solidsupport, coupling reagents for coupling capture probes to a solidsupport, hybridization reagents, synthesis reagents, detection reagents.Any of such reagents can include, for example, some, many or all of thebuffers, components and/or articles used for performing one or more ofthe subsequent steps for analysis of a representative sample of theinvention.

One or more ancillary reagents also can be included in the kits of theinvention. Such ancillary reagents can include any of the reagentsexemplified above and/or other types of reagents useful in performingthe methods of the invention or useful in analysis of a representativesample of the invention.

Instructions can further be included in a kit of the invention. Theinstructions can include, for example, procedures for making anycomponents or articles used in the methods of the invention, performingany embodiment of the methods of the invention and/or instructions forperforming any of the subsequent analysis steps employing arepresentative sample of the invention.

Throughout this application various publications have been referencedwithin parentheses. The disclosures of these publications in theirentireties are hereby incorporated by reference in this application inorder to more fully describe the state of the art to which thisinvention pertains.

It is understood that modifications which do not substantially affectthe activity of the various embodiments of this invention are alsoincluded within the definition of the invention provided herein. Thoseskilled in the art will readily appreciate that the specific examplesand studies detailed above are only illustrative of the invention.Accordingly, specific examples disclosed herein are intended toillustrate but not limit the present invention. It also should beunderstood that, although the invention has been described withreference to the disclosed embodiments, various modifications can bemade without departing from the spirit of the invention. Accordingly,the invention is limited only by the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of selecting a representational sampleof nucleic acid sequences from a mixture of nucleic acids, comprising:(a) providing a mixture of nucleic acids; (b) providing a population ofsolid support-attached capture probes, said population comprisingnucleic acids complementary to nucleic acids comprising a predeterminedportion of the nucleic acid sequences collectively present in saidmixture of nucleic acids; (c) contacting said mixture of nucleic acidswith said population of solid support-attached capture probes underconditions sufficient for hybridization of said nucleic acids with saidcapture probes, wherein the capture probes are randomly located on thesolid support; (d) removing unhybridized nucleic acids from the solidsupport to separate desired sequences from undesired sequences withinthe mixture; thereby selecting a representational sample of nucleicacids, wherein the proportion of each sequence in said representationalsample relative to all other sequences in said representational sampleis substantially the same as the proportions of the sequences in saidmixture; (e) amplifying the nucleic acids in the representational sampleon the solid support to generate an amplified representational sample;and (f) performing a sequence analysis of the amplified representationalsample.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the mixture of nucleic acidscomprises genomic DNA sequence having a complexity of at least 1.7 Gbp.3. The method of claim 2, wherein said population of capture probescomprise sequences having complementarity to both strands of saidgenomic DNA.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the mixture of nucleicacids comprises amplified DNA sequence.
 5. The method of claim 1,wherein a representational sample has a complexity of at least 0.001%and at most 49% of said mixture.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein step(e) comprises maintaining separation of sequences by attachment toidentifiable locations on the solid support.
 7. The method of claim 1,wherein performing a sequence analysis comprises SBS.
 8. The method ofclaim 1, wherein performing a sequence analysis comprises sequencing byligation.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein performing a sequenceanalysis comprises pyrosequencing.
 10. The method of claim 1, whereinperforming a sequence analysis comprises hybridizing a primer to anucleic acid in the amplified representational sample and monitoring theextension of the primer by a polymerase.
 11. The method of claim 1,wherein said solid support comprises microspheres.
 12. The method ofclaim 1, wherein said solid support comprises a planar surface.
 13. Themethod of claim 1, wherein said population of capture probes consistsessentially of oligonucleotides having substantially similar meltingtemperatures (Tm).
 14. The method of claim 1, wherein said population ofcapture probes comprise an amount in molar excess compared tocomplementary sequences within said predetermined portion of nucleicacids.
 15. A method of analyzing a mixture of nucleic acids comprising:(a) providing a mixture of nucleic acids comprising amplified DNAsequence; (b) providing a population of solid support-attached captureprobes, said population comprising nucleic acids complementary tonucleic acids comprising a predetermined portion of the nucleic acidsequences collectively present in said mixture; (c) contacting saidmixture of nucleic acids with said population of solid support-attachedcapture probes under conditions sufficient for hybridization of saidnucleic acids with said capture probes, wherein the capture probes arerandomly located on the solid support, (d) removing unhybridized nucleicacids from the solid support to separate desired sequences fromundesired sequences within the mixture; thereby selecting arepresentational sample of nucleic acids, wherein the proportion of eachsequence in said representational sample relative to all other sequencesin said representational sample is substantially the same as theproportions of the sequences in said mixture; (e) amplifying the nucleicacids in the representational sample on the solid support to generate anamplified representational sample; and (f) detecting individual nucleicacids in said amplified representational sample to determine a sequencecharacteristic of said predetermined portion of the nucleic acidsequences collectively present in said mixture.
 16. The method of claim15, wherein said sequence characteristic comprises the nucleotidesequence for said predetermined portion of the nucleic acid sequencescollectively present in said mixture.
 17. The method of claim 15,wherein said sequence characteristic comprises the copy number forsequences in said predetermined portion of the nucleic acid sequencescollectively present in said mixture.
 18. The method of claim 15,wherein said sequence characteristic comprises loss of heterozygosity insaid predetermined portion of the nucleic acid sequences collectivelypresent in said mixture.
 19. The method of claim 15, wherein saidsequence characteristic comprises the genotype of said predeterminedportion of the nucleic acid sequences collectively present in saidmixture.
 20. The method of claim 15, wherein said sequencecharacteristic comprises the methylation status of said predeterminedportion of the nucleic acid sequences collectively present in saidmixture.